


I Hate This Town

by thereswaytoomuchsugarinthis



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Restaurants, YMIR GET IT TOGETHER JESUS, cardigans are stupid, yumikuri
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-09
Updated: 2014-08-05
Packaged: 2018-01-15 04:09:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 30,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1290796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thereswaytoomuchsugarinthis/pseuds/thereswaytoomuchsugarinthis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Working in a four star restaurant is serious business. The kitchen staff works hard and plays hard, especially on this night when the restaurant is flooded with a private party for some of  the city's wealthiest residents. Their diamond earrings and white cardigans means big tips for the crew. </p><p>Ymir is forced to work the floor but all her resentment vanishes when she recognizes the pretty blonde girl that occasionally rides the same bus as her sitting at the table in the  far corner wearing a beautiful evening gown. It was going to be along night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Her stomach lurched as she read the message

“After our phone interview we have decided to go in another direction. We would like to take this time to say thank you for your application and we wish you the best of luck in your endevours.”

“Tch” She threw her phone across the room and turned over staring at the wall, hearing a loud BANG and crunch as her phone hit the pile of dishes she had left sitting in the sink.   
It sounded like she broke more than just one dish.

This had been the fifth time she received a similar message from a job oppoerunity. The messages were from different jobs, and written in different words, but all said essentially the same thing: Fuck off.

“What matters most is how well you walk through fire” she thought absent mindedly. She liked that line, and she liked the poet, Bukowski, was just as crusty, lonely and angry as she was. She felt like he spoke for her sometimes—offering a well spoken ‘Eat Shit’ to the people and place that pissed her off. Then he would swing an old, brotherly arm over her shoulders as they walked away to get a drink together. Then all the shit she hated would melt away as she under the arm of a true comrade. 

It didn’t work this time. The words she spoke didn’t make the old man come this time. No brotherly arm, and no warmth. She just sat alone in her room, with her stomach feeling empty, and heavy. She didn’t really want the job that badly, it was a real shitty one buut not wanting it didn’t keep away the sting of rejection. 

“Took ‘em long enough to get back to me. Assholes.” She spat.

People always fucking act like that. While they sit there in the comfort of a managerial position, sifting through page after page of applications written with desperate handwriting, sipping coffee, tossing one to the side then another. 

They were probably reading it during their lunch break, with their quaint little pasta they brought from their quaint fucking house in the ‘burbs, dripping sauce all over peoples cover letters that took them hours to put together. There was something cold and heartless in the process, this she knew. But she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. 

It’s a job. Yeah I get that. The job should go to the one who fits the bill best. But shit…I mean. All I want is to do what they tell me, get paid, then fucking leave. Why am I getting all disappointed that they picked someone else to wash their floors.

Its not like she was fucked or anything, afterall she did have a night job, but it didn’t pay well, and she was beginning to hate the people she worked for. She needed to find another one for the extra cash. Plus, it couldn’t hurt to pack her schedule- the less sitting around time she had meant less time to think. The alone-in-your-apartment-all-afternoon was the kind of thinking that only hurt you.

Her eyes shifted to the glowing digital clock on the stand by the couch. 

4:12

She had another hour to go before she had to get ready. Though it never took her long. She never put on makeup, used hair spray, or had to pluck her eyebrows. All that stuff wasn’t really for her. She knew she was ugly, and didn’t try cover it up like most people. She didn’t need to impress anybody. Besides, all the foundation in the world wouldn’t cover up her freckles.   
No, she wasn’t pretty. She wasn’t pretty like that girl on the bus the other day. The one with long golden hair. She had the kind of face that didn’t even need make up. Yeah that girl was just that kind of pretty…

She smiled to herself recalling the memory.

Chriss’ake, not like she would ever talk to someone like you anways. 

She snapped her attention back to the clock. She shouldn’t let her mind wander down that road. She liked being alone, and it would always stay that way. It had been a long time since anyone had expressed any kind of romantic interest in her. Maybe more did, but they were too afraid to approach her. Either way, she would never know.

4:27

She didn’t want to get up...Just thinking about walking into the cold, waiting for the bus, getting on another bus and working a 9 hour shift her feel tired.   
Its not like she hated her shitty job though…She didn’t like it but shit, who would. It certainly wasn’t the worst she’s ever had though. And it beat the hell outta talking to customers. Politeness never suited her. 

Customers aside, washing dishes left her pretty much soaked at the end of the night, and smelling like…uck she didn’t even know. 

4:45

“fuck. Time to go” she sighed as she rolled off the couch to grab her backpack, put on her shoes and slip out the door. She left her phone where it landed in the sink. It was probably broken anyways.

As she descended the stairs she wondered if she would see that girl again….  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Steam rushed out of the machine as she opened the double doors to look for the problem. The steam burned her hand as she fished around the racks before pulling a fork out from between one of the rollers. It was usually a fork or knife that would get wedged between one of the many small rollers that made up the belt. If the dish rack didn’t keep moving, then the high pressure water hoses kept pumping scalding hot water into the machine. Something about sensors she assumed. 

Either way, the floor was covered in water. At least the machine started again.

“What the fuck Ymir!” barked the chief from across the room. 

“Clean that shit up! Its hazardous!! All I need is for one of those prissy ass waiters to slip on it and sue the shit outta me”

Ymir smiled.

“Maybe if you got a machine that had a fucking BELT instead of rollers shit wouldn’t get caught up all the time!” She yelled back

“Well look whose a fuckin’ Dish Washer wizard” he threw up his arms

“If I had the fucking money to get a better machine your ass would be out of a job wouldn’t you? Id put you and that pretty scowl of yours in a skirt and throw you up front to Hostess. That’d fuckin show ya” 

She pictured herself in the frilly getup they made the hosts and hostesses wear. It send a shiver down her spine.

“You’d look better in a skirt then me Fatass” she called behind her shoulder as she pushed through the double doors to fetch the mop. 

Kitchens were fun. Between the loud, foul-mouthed chef Reiner, the line cooks Sasha and Connie who were always throwing food at the servers to the annoyance of the head waiter Bertholt, it was not such a shit place to work. Ymir hated teamwork, but maybe a team that cajoled the other staff and drank swigs of whiskey on slow nights wasn’t so bad. In fact that was maybe the only place she ever felt like she could join in on the jokes. 

After mopping the water, Ymir moved back to scrubbing huge oven pans. Tonights special was some kind of baked mess. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Berthold enter, and walk briskly over to the counter. He yelled something to get chef Reiners attention and she noticed him stiffen at the sound of Bertholds voice. He turned immediately and leaned his head in to hear.

How cute…Big buff Reiner has a crush on the friendly giant in a bow tie.

Reiner wasn’t looking Bertholt in the eyes and nodded furiously before looking up for a split second only to fix his eyes on the ground again. Berthold smiled and lightly touched Reiners arm before turning to leave. Was it the heat of the kitchen or was the chef….blushing?

Suddenly Ymir was aware of someone standing very close. It was Sasha, the line cook. With a dinner loaf in one hand and a pack of butter in the other she tried to speak to Ymir.  
“mll hnna nn eck”

Ymir stared. “What did you say? Jesus Sasha swallow your fucking food”

Sasha chewed for a moment, not breaking eye contact with Ymir and gulped the bread down before continuing.

“I said all hands on deck. Huge party, HUUUGE PARTY just walked in with no reservation. HUGE!! Servers said they need help busing and serving tables—theyre slammed out there”  
Before Ymir could say anything Sasha pointed to the pile of plates and half eaten food behind her.

“Hey you going to eat that?”

Ymir glanced back at the pile of dishes. There was half eaten ‘baked-mess-special’ smashed together with half eaten salads, and bowls of mashed potatoes with napkins in them.

“Youre asking me if I want that pile of half eaten food, with napkins, other people’s spit, and who knows what else?”

Sasha looked a furiously.

“….no. Im not going to eat that” Ymir rolled her eyes.

Sasha jumped and rushed to the pile taking handfuls of food and shoving it in her mouth. Ymir watched in an amazed disgust. 

A voice came from by the swinging doors . It belonged to one of the newer servers, Armin, a timid blond boy with an odd sense of loyalty to the restaurant.

“You gunna help us Ymir?” 

“No way. That’s not in my job description. Do it yourself”

Armin looked hurt. Ymir didn’t care. She wasn’t about to work more, and for less pay. 

“Get your ass out there Ymir” Bellowed Reiner from behind the grill “You help them out or Ill put—"

“Yeah yeah, ass out on the street. I get it.” 

She turned to Armin “Fine. What do you need”

“You don’t have to take orders or anything. Just help us bring plates out and take empty ones back.” 

Ymir let Armin take her by the arm and lead her into the dining area, adding “Some Champagne filling too, but that’s all” 

When the doors swung open, Ymir was taken aback. The place was packed with people who looked like they were right out of a movie. All wearing shades of white, some with cardigans hung lazily around their shoulders, women with tight sequined dresses, or long flowy gowns. 

“What the fuck is this about?”

“Some rich yacht club had made us their pre-cruise aperitif.”

Ymir scanned the room, not really knowing what Armin was talking about. Whats an aperitif. Why do rich people insist on eating things they cant spell?

Her thoughts were cut short— for there, in the corner sat the girl from the bus the other day. Her hair tied up in a bun perfectly curled strands brushing the side of her face. She sat next to a wall and a woman wearing way too much makeup with glittering diamond bangles, who was gesturing excitedly as she talked the group sitting near her. No one seemed to be paying the blonde girl any attention. But she was smiling all the same- watching the group as they talked.

Ymir didn’t even realize Armin was still talking, “Berthold said they had planned to go somewhere else but there was a fire at their usual place. They came in last minute and had the whole place cleared out. They paid all the other customers tabs to get them to leave.”

Ymir chuckled.

“Filthy rich fuckers. I bet they don’t even tip after all that”

At that Armin lit up, eyes wide “They already did! They added 10% to the whole bill”

“What! Only 10%!? That’s bullshit. They’re wearing diamonds for fucks sake, its not like they don’t have the fucking money!”

“Shh!! Ymir, someone might hear. Listen, the whole restaurant is going to split the tip tonight. Its gunna be huge even without the full 20%, so just shut up and do this ok?” He looked up at her with a big ‘were going to get hammered with this money tonight’ smile.  
“Yeah whatever. Where you want me to start pipsqueak?” Her eyes falling aga  
in to the girl from the bus. This time she was staring down at the neatly folded napkin on the table.

“Great!” Exclaimed Armin, shoved a champagne wrapped in a white cloth in her hands. 

“You can start by keeping everyone’s glasses filled until Reiner finished the first course. Im going to go get the bread and Shrimp” He scurried away. Leaving Ymir to the task of occupying the Bourgoise bastards.

“get them drunk!” Armin yelled behind his back.


	2. Looks Like We Both Hate This Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moving right along. Ymir Swears like a sailor (yo ho bitches)
> 
> Reiner isn't a French Chef though he did cater to a party for the French Premier, he wasn't the chef on duty though- he was just a line cook but it doesn't hurt for the magazines to think that, right? After all the famously right Reiss's and their posse are here now.
> 
> woo, get money get paid. Reiner is freaking out. Ymir and Levi help. and im totally make up a recipe that sounds like it works. You put vinegar in stuff, right? Sure, thats a thing, why not. how the hell do you make chutney....

The blonde girl sat near one of her many cousins, trying to look like she was enjoying herself. 

A Reiss girl is always composed, always elegant, and above all, always smiling. 

The words were always ringing in her ears, always. Always. She heard them all day from her governess whenever she wasn’t at school. It was her duty as a Reiss to set an example for the top tier of the truly cultured society. Those words were her guide.

If you remember the things I teach you, live these words in your every move and commit them to your thought, you will be a true Reiss. Your duty is to be the picture perfect woman. To be delicate and admired. 

The blonde girl recalled once when she was a child she had asked her nanny why she had to live by such a code. The response was an icy “You are a pretty little picture. Pictures do not speak unless spoken to. In fact, they really shouldn’t speak at all.”

The words of the Reiss family governess were meant to help her.They were supposed to be her anchor. 

An anchor that dragged her, suffocating to the bottom of a cold, black sea.

She was staring at her napkin. Suddenly, fear shook her and she threw her attention back at the group her aunt was engaging just in time for her aunt to turn to her and smile a plastic smile,

“isn’t that right Historia?”

Historias stomach tensed, she actually hadn’t heard what her Aunt was talking about but was careful to give no indication of it.  
“Of course dear Aunt” she replied with a gentle smile.

Her Aunts gaze lingered only a moment before turning back to the group. Historia thought she saw her eyes narrow ever so slightly. A familiar sick feeling washed over her. She stared down at her nails.

She was brought back by a man across from her Aunts exclamation

“Ah! Finally, theyre bringing out the champagne. You know this establishment is supposed to have four stars, although for the life of me I can hardly imagine why, what with terribly slow service” . He had slicked back dark hair and a cream colored sports coat over a bright white button down. Historia wasn’t sure who he was. Maybe a relative of a business partner? 

“I hear this restaurant is owned by a renowned foreign chef, he catered a party to the French Premier. So perhaps it’s all part of the presentation--this slowness. To draw our anticipation-make us wait” Offered the woman with the 3 tiered Pearl Necklace sitting next to the man with the cream-colored jacket.

“Or perhaps” Exclaimed Historia’s Aunt in a drawling tone “They simply aren’t who they say they are”.

Historia knew it was directed at her but she didn’t care anymore. The champagne will make her feel warm and maybe she can have a little fun listening to the people at her table bicker. People tend to drink too much at these parties. 

Historia scanned the room for the Servers holding Champagne trying to judge how long it would take for them to reach her table. She really could use a drink. All the male servers were wearing black pants and white button downs with black vests. The girls had a variation of the same, except with black pencil skirts and white blouses with a deep V cut. Historia smiled. She liked the deep V cuts.

The closest Server had his back turned to them. He was tall and had his dark hair clipped back in a ponytail with a pretty red hair clip. Historia watched him as he poured the champagne in the glass of her father. Just as the waiter finished her fathers glass, however, Jean, a son of her fathers favorite business partner threw his glass up after having downed the whole thing on gulp. The waiter rushed to fill it, and just as he began to turn toward the next table another man at the table threw his champagne glass up. This continued for awhile.

The waiter was clearly exasperated and rushed over to the other man. He emptied the bottle into the mans glass but it only filled halfway. Historia saw the mans face contort into annoyance, as if the waiter had any control over the champagne glass being empty, and saw him sat something that made the waiters body stiffen. The two stood locked, the man glaring at the waiter. Historia couldn’t see the waiters face, but she bet he was upset. The waiters hands clenched into a fist at his side…

Uh-oh. This could get bad.

Historia urged with all her might that maybe the waiter could let it go.

Don’t hit him, out of everyone in this room. Don’t hit him.

The man sitting was her fathers closest business partner. Mr Safra, and one of the richest men in the world. 

And the meanest.

To Historias surprise (and relief) the waiter let it go, he bowed quickly and ducked away to the kitchen. Another one replaced him, shorter with dark brown hair. The shorter waiter quickly finished the table and moved to the next. 

Goodie! That means our table is next 

Just then the tall waiter emerged from the kitchen with a fresh bottle and sauntered over to her table. He was dark and had freckles across his face. He had a confident walk, and swung his shoulders as he moved. 

Historia giggled. She liked the way this waiter walked. It reminded her of a swashbuckling pirate. Cool, collected, and strong. 

As he came closer his eyes met Historias. They were a deep rich brown that played against his freckles, making him look mischievous. The waiter moved to the man at the far end of the table with the cream-colored jacket, he lifted the champagne glass filling it with sparkling golden liquid in one fluid motion before placing it gently back down. He then leaned sideways to the woman next to him with such a grace that Historia pictured a tall, dark dancer instead of a pirate. She wondered what kind of person could make her think of both both those imagines with just his movements. He picked up the woman’s glass and filled it to the brim perfectly. 

I wonder what its like to dance with him.

Historia pictured his long arms around her waist, after a long night of waltes, salsas and sambas, she would lean her head on his shoulder and they would just sway gently to the music.  
She was enjoying the image and hardly noticed him rounding the table to fill her glass. He stood close behind her and leaned over her shoulder to take her glass, brushing her hair with his torso. She turned to look at him. His face was very close, Historia watched as he slowly filler her glass, meeting her eyes. She smiled up at him. 

A small half smile broke across tan, freckled face and at that moment Historia decided she liked that smile.

“Thank you!” She said a little too loudly. 

He chuckled a low quiet laugh. “Yeah. You’re welcome” He smiled. 

Historia paused. Wait. Is that. Could he be? His voice! It’s a girl!

Without thinking Historia called out “Wait you’re--!!” but quickly covered her mouth. Her aunt turned to her and hissed at her to be silent.

Historia regained her composure and said “Youre” she had to think fast, she could feel her aunts eyes burning into her sides, and the waitress staring at her with one eyebrow arched, waiting for Historia to recover. 

“You’re very kind. Thank you” a blush creeping to her cheeks.

Satisfied, her aunt flashed a glare at Historia before returning to her conversation. Historia wondered if the waitress noticed her aunt.

She did. 

The waitress glanced at her aunt then at Historia, still holding Historias glass.

Historias heart sank. The tall dark waitress saw the whole thing. She probably thought Historia was some kind of spoiled child with relative keeping such sharp eyes on her.  
Shame began turn in her chest. The excitement Historia felt from seeing the waitresse’s smile was fading, Historia wished a hole would appear that she could just crawl through.   
The waitress held the glass for Historia, she reached to take it brushing the waitresses slender fingers, finding that the waitress did not let go. Historia look up to meet her gaze. The woman cocked her head to Historias aunt, and moved her pinky finger to cover Historias, giving a short but strong squeeze. Historias heart jumped, she couldn’t think, she moved her mouth to say something but no words came to her. The waitress just smirked and turned away to tend to other tables. 

Still stunned, Historia turned back to the table, staring at her glass. Her heart was racing and for the first time, Historia was looking forward to a 6 course meal with the Reiss’s and their acquaintances.

Six courses…

and the waitress would have to come back for all of it!

She smiled to herself before turning back to her aunt and her dinner companions.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -----------------------------------------------

 

Ymir burst through the doors of the kitchen and with her head down rushed to the sinks. Turned the sinks on leaned close to the rushing cool water. 

“Holy fucking shit” she stammered. “Holy shit what did I just do”. The memory of the girl’s big blue eyes staring up at her was burned into her. She must have been losing it. Why did she do that!? I mean the girls aunt was clearly a bitch and she needed someone on her side, but jesus!! She touched her hands! The girl must think shes a total fucking creep. For fuck’s sake she doesn’t even know her! 

Ymirs eyes were wide she was shaking with embarrassment when Levi meandered over to her. 

“Hey” he said cooly. “You alright?”

Ymir spun around.

“What!” she snarled.

“Woah. You seem uncharacteristically..” he paused looking for the right word. Ymirs irritation was rising 

“Frantic” He popped.

“Yes I'm fucking frantic. Im fucking frantic because Im doing a job that isn’t mine, dealing with assholes that I'm not paid to deal with-so yes, you could say I'm fucking frantic”

“Ah” he nodded. “Well, we really need you, but If you think you’re going to lose it you could just stay here and do dishes”

Ymirs' stomach dropped. Staying in here meant she wouldn’t get the chance to see the girl again. She may have done something creepy, but maybe if she goes to the table enough times and be sure to play it cool, the girl wouldn’t think much of what Ymir considered to be ‘an epic fuck up’ 

“N-no” she stuttered. “Its fine. I just” 

Yeah, you just? You just? Ymir !!! get it together! Jesus.

Levi was looking at her expectantly when she stammered “Just keep me away from the table with the asshole with the undercut is all. If I see him again I wont be able to keep from decking him”

Levi gave a knowing smile “Havent known you to care so much about what people say to you. But sure. Ill have Armin take the table instead” 

Ymir felt a cooling wave of relief relax her body. “Cool” she said turning back to the dishwasher.

“good, Now get ready because the first course is coming out”

A clatter came from behind the counters. Reiner cussed loudly “Son-of a!” 

The two turned to see Reiner on his knees, hunched over an open oven.

“Looks like he burnt his hand” Levi rushed over to see to him. Ymir followed chuckling to herself. It was very rare for Reiner to lose his composure like that. He swore a lot, but in the year that Ymir had been working there, she had never known him to burn, or even cut himself. 

Reiner was leaning over a tray with cuts of leg of lamb, half of them spilled onto the floor. "Fuck!” 

“Ive lost a whole table of fucking appetizers” 

“Not necessarily” chimed Levi, leaning down to pick up the pieces on the floor.

“Yeah, why don’t you just flash fry ‘em real quick, it’ll take the nasty floor germs off” 

Reiner shot Ymir a 1,000 degree glare 

“This is FOUR fucking star restaurant, I cant serve people shit that’s been on the fucking floor”

Ymir thought for a second. She honestly didn’t give a shit, Reiner could feed these people garbage for all she cared. But the longer they delayed it meant the less time she might have to steal glances at the beautiful and delicate Historia. 

“Well then how about this. Just feed everyone two instead of three legs of lamb and add some, I duno Cuzco or something on the side to make the plate look fuller”

Reiner squinted at her from his place on the floor and Levi turned to her.

“Actually Reiner that’s a good idea”

Reiner grunted. “Yeah fine. But I don’t have cuscus. Or the time to make it.”

Levi pushed a little more “Fine no cuscus. What about a bed of arugula. The only purpose is to make the plate look fuller”

Reiner considered this. 

“You two aren’t as worthless as I thought” he chuckled. “Yeah. Though I cant make the arugula without taste! Im a fucking four star chef after all!” he beat his chest with hand. He yelled for Sasha and Connie to get their sorry asses over there.

“Grind more mint leaves and get the chutney powder. Combine one two tablespoons of powder with one of vinegar and water for every bowl. Don’t put a ton of mint, its overpowering. Make a fucking dressing.” 

Sasha saluted stupidly and Connie smiled as he watched her from the corner of his eye.

As they turned Reiner called for them to take bring it to him when they were done so he could cook it with some lamb for flavor. This time they both saluted and disappeared into the walk in fridge.

Standing up Reiner clapped both Levi and Ymir on the back 

“Not bad. Now get back to fucking work. These moneyed sons of bitches don’t like to be kept waiting. Get ‘em good and drunk!”

With that Ymir and Levi began assembling the plates to be taken out. 

Berthold came through the doors and yelled to Reiner “Are the plates ready yet?”

“Hell yeah they are” barked Reiner “right here” he began sliding the plates under the heat lamps at a rapid pace. 

“Did I have you worried Bert?” mused Reiner

“Of course not, I always know I can count on you Reiner” Berthold replied warmly. Though clearly relieved.

“Y-yeah. You bet” Reiner stumbled. 

The two exchanged a look. Reiners awkward and clumsy, Berthold's eyes glistened. Then Berthold turned to the kitchen.

“Alright everyone. This is the biggest ticket this restaurant has seen since opening night. The family hosting the event is the Reiss’s. The most prominent family on the east coast. We win them, every family from Boston to New York will come rushing through our doors. Throwing money at us.”

Everyone waited for Bertholt to continue. Meanwhile a stunned Ymir, beginning to realize the gravity of her earlier exchange with the girl Historia- it wasn’t just Historia’s hand she touched. It was the hand of Historia Reiss, daughter of one of the most influential families in the country. 

That might have been a royal fuck up. 

 

“wait” She muttered. 

Get it together. Its just fucking money! And fame! Who gives a fuck. People are only famous because other idiots recognize them. If people liked broke, indignant freckled assholes she could be famous too. It just so happened that the modern preference was for old moneyed blondes with too much fucking time on their hands to do anything but throw lavish parties and be mean to their kids. 

That’s right. That bejeweled twig of a woman was being mean to Historia. Ymir saw how Historias shoulders slumped when the woman looked at her. No one should have that kind of power over anyone. Especially someone as cute as Historia. 

Historia didn’t even do anything. Why the fuck was that old bitch scolding her.

Ymir was determined to make Historia feel better. Because. Well. Fuck these people. 

A breath of life climbed back into her. Ymir was back in her element: Not giving a fuck. She was becoming aware that she had gotten thrown off her game for a bit there and the old feelings came rushing back. Doubt, Fear, and Anguish.

Doubt is not your friend 

No. Doubt is your worst enemy. 

It never did her any good and was usually behind most of her days spent slumped under her blankets, unable to crawl out of bed.

The best way to beat doubt is to do something you know-you fucking know-how to do; in this case it was sticking a bony brown finger to the people that ran world. Yes. She had her weapon back. It was gone, it was swept away by a tiny blonde with deep, shimmering eyes and it got scary for a second. But it was back. 

If Historia didn’t like it then fuck her. She was one of them. Cute as she was, she was one of them. 

Even so, Ymir couldn’t shake the anger that she felt at the tone that stiff lady took with the small blonde girl. Historia might be one of them, but even as one of the top percent she should be treated like it. Right? All flowers and rainbows, delicately and with fake manners. That woman didn’t seem like she even pretended to hide her animosity towards Historia. Ymir could feel it from where she stood. 

“SO what do you say!” Ymir snapped her attention back to Berthold when the staff all cheered. She had missed the whole thing. Whatever. You hear one managers pep talk to low wage workers, you hear em all. Besides, she already had a goal. She didn’t need their bullshit.

She grabbed a plate with the rest of them and rushed out to meet the dining hall. 

Historia watched as the doors at the far side of the room swung open. A short dark haired man leading with a tray of plates balanced above his head, followed by a long line of servers. She scanned the line for her waitress. She saw a girl with brown hair pulled back into a pony tail with a huge smile plastered on her face, and a boy with a shaved head ushering behind her. As the waiters filed into the respective tables she felt her heart thump her tall dark waitress started towards her table. 

Before she reached Historia however, the brown haired girl with a pony tail cut in front of her and placed a plate of lamb chops in front of the man with the cream-colored jacket. As the girl moved to grab the next plate from her tray, the tall, slim waitress grabbed her wrist and leaned to whisper something in her ear. The girls face when white and she scurried off in the other direction.

As her mind began to turn over what she saw she felt the tall girls presence behind her. 

Wow shes fast.

The woman leaned over closer this time, close enough that Historia could smell her. She smelled like sandalwood-earthy and warm. Her waitress placed her plate gingerly in front of her. No grazing of hands this time Historia noted, a little disappointed. 

She glanced at her plate realizing she had a lot more food than everyone else at her table. She turned to look at the waitress, who was already looking at her. As if she knew that Historia would turn around.

“We had extra” she offered cooly, and began to move off.

'This time its my turn' thought Historia.

Historia reached out and grabbed her wrist. This time she was determined not to let anyone but the woman hear her. 

“whats your name” she mouthed

A slow grin crept up the corners of her mouth, making her freckles move to underline and light her eyes.

“Ymir” she replied in a soft voice. 

She left. 

Historia looked around, relieved no one had seemed to notice the exchange. She couldn’t help but giggle. She had made a friend!

 

 

The rest of the courses went off without much. She made sure to drain her champagne glass as often as she could, and catch the eyes of the dark, beautiful Ymir making her walk over to her and fill her glass. 

Historia held her glass while Ymir wrapped her hand around the other side, their fingertips brushing. Ymir leaned down and whispered “Be careful now. You trying to get hammered”   
“Yes. Actually” Historia replied, with feigned indignance. 

Ymir cocked an eyebrow, glanced over the table to make to make sure no one was looking and said 

“You think they’d approve of you doing that?”

A loud chortle erupted from the other side of the table. The woman with the three tiered pearl necklace had her hands up in a shrug, and with glassy red eyes was probably telling a little bit too much about her and her husband’s bedroom habits. The man with the cream-colored jacket, sat hunched over his glass pretending not to notice. He was probably—no wait, definitely her husband. 

Historia stifled a laugh and looked up at Ymir who was staring with a look of disbelief.

“Forget I said that.” She said flatly.

Historia had to stifle another laugh. 

The dinner companions didn’t seem to pay the two any attention any more. 

“They seem pretty drunk” Historia said through a laugh

“You haven’t seen drunk until you’ve seen four star service workers drink” 

“Oh really?” 

“Really.” 

Ymir looked down at the girl with the deep blue eyes. She had the sweetest smile Ymir had ever seen. 

 

Oh what the hell

 

“You want to see how the lower class gets drunk Historia?” Ymir challenged

She said it. Shit, Dick and Ass she said it. 

The petite girl stared up at her eyes widening

Daman I fucked it up. Just play it off, play it off.

Ymir felt the walls closing in, and a familiar searing panic setting in but she screamed it back.

Ymir was getting ready for the pretty girls face to distort into disgust. She hardened her eyes and waited for the response. Whatever it was she would be ready cuz, after all, Fuck these people.

“Are you inviting me….to…drink with you?”

Ymir couldn’t read the look on her face. 

It pissed her off. It wasn’t fair. She threw the hardball and the girl was supposed to give her a fucking a yes or no response, not throw it back in her court.

If she pursued it, and confirmed her invitation, then Historia would think she was a fucking weirdo and never speak her to her again. But if she made a joke then maybe Historia would laugh and they would remain acquaintances. Maybe shed see her on the bus again, and they could get to talking. There could be a better, more appropriate time, like, after getting to know each other on bus rides or something, right?

Idiot. What the fuck do you care about appropriate. Appropriate is for these people. With the money and the diamonds and the miserable, drunken marrriages.

“Yeah” ventured Ymir 

“I am. Whatdya say Historia” She emphasized her name in a mocking tone, hopefully playing off her nervousness.

The girl blinked up at her. 

“I say that sounds great”

 

LKJNA;OS[JG’PJGSA;KDNMF;TSRDakljg’akje’fa’!!!!!!

 

But Ymir recovered.

“Cool” Meet me out back before you leave

Historias face darkened “I cant. I have to leave with my family”

Ymirs heart sank. There went her chance. Well better luck next time.

“No problem.” Was all she could say before she turned to walk away.

Historia felt a lump in her throat. Her family got in the way yet again. She felt like crying, she just chased away the girl she had been trying to get the attention of all night. Her gaze fell to her lap.

 

 

 

Dessert, the last course came at the end of a dragging night. All Historia wanted was to crawl into her bed and sleep forever. But it was never like that for her. She was a Reiss after all, and had to be charming, amiable, and alert at all times. Like a lady. Or a statue.

The dark haired woman walked towards her, she caught her eye for a moment but was too ashamed to hold it. She stared at her hands. The plate was dropped in front of her but she couldn’t stand to even look up at it. She felt sick. 

The presence behind her lingered. Before she could look up Ymir tossed a small napkin next to her plate with a “Tiramisu can be messy” before rushing off. 

Historia sighed. And took the napkin in her hands. Playing with it while avoiding her now very drunk dinner companions. 

She moved her hands to her cheek and, forgetting her manners, rested it on her hands. 

It it didn’t take long for her aunt to notice this time. Her bony arm shot out and ripped Historias hand from her face, almost causing her to smack her head on the table. She snapped her attention to her aunt.

Red faced and sneering she glared at Historia. 

“Whats the matter Caroline” the man with the cream-colored jacket interjected. Historia let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh nothing, Historia just has a smudge on her cheek. The silly dear I do tell her to be more careful, don’t I?” The plastic smile again

“You do auntie. Silly me” Historia played

“The girl is just so dreamy and sweet isn’t she?” Her aunt looked to the table who all nodded in agreement. Yes, yes, Historia was so sweet and so delicate. Always with her head in the clouds.

Her aunt moved to wipe the smudge from her face. Roughly. She hurt her cheek but Historia didn’t back down, she pressed against her aunts wicked hands. 

Her aunt let a smooth chuckle and turned back to the company. Her aunt must have been pretty drunk to want to let out her aggression over a fake smudge. 

Wait...

Historia turned the napkin over. There was smudged writing. Her practically flew out of her chest.It was a phone number!!! Ymir left her contact! She didn’t mess up! Historia could have died there. Smiling she stuffed it into her purse and let the night pass by in a peaceful bliss.


	3. Sway with me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Horray! got my butt in gear thanks to Amy

Reiner stood among the exhausted kitchen staff holding one of the many half-finished champagne bottles left over from the party. 

“Good job everyone! I’d say we can look for some nice reviews in the papers tomorrow and to expect more rich bastards like them to eat our food.”

The crew was silent, wondering if Reiner was going to re-try his attempt at motivational camaraderie. Rich bastards eating their food did not really inspire the wait staff to wade into enemy bullets.

Reiner sighed, knowing the only thing that appealed to the staff and switched tactics,“and of course, better tips for us”

A roar went up as everyone lifted their glasses and downed the contents “H-hey! I wasn’t finished!” Reiner yelled over the sound of low wage hopes rising with the promise of a couple extra bucks.

Connie spoke up “Alright alright, everyone shut up for a second! I cordially invite you to attend the soiree of the lady Sasha at her humble Manchester loft to let off some steam. Who’s coming?”

“what the fucks a ‘swa-ray’?”

“It’s a fancy word for party” explained Armin, but before anyone asked more questions another voice came from the back

“Manchester loft my ass, Sasha lives in a shit hole!”

“HEY! I like my shit-hole”

As more yells erupted Ymir felt her phone vibrating in her pocket and noticed it was an unknown number. She slipped into the nearby supply closet to answer it

“Hello?”

“Um, hi, Ymir?”

The voice on the other end was high pitched and soft. It sounded vaguely familiar

“Yeah, whats’ it to you?”

“Well you gave me your number so I thought I’d call to tell you that I decided to take you up on your offer”

“Huh?”

Ymir played dumb, though she knew damn well who it was. How could she forget the beautiful blonde in the pearly white dress, and the way it draped over one of her shoulders, leaving the other exposed. Hair done up, leaving her creamy neck exposed, and her sad eyes and bright smile. Ymir would never forget that, instead she tucked it away in a vault in the back of her mind where she could revisit it at any time.

Ymir thought she was just about the prettiest damn thing she’d ever seen and could not wrap her head around why this girl was directing even a little harmless and friendly attention at her. Ymir knew who the voice at the other end belonged to, but even still she had to hear it confirmed to believe it. 

“Who is this?” Ymir ventured

“Its Historia” The voice at the other end sounded hurt. Damnit, Ymir, get it together! Not even three seconds and you hurt her feelings. Jesus. Still though, Christa called her, and it made Ymir panic- but the good kind of panic, if there was such a thing. 

“Oh Historia. Hey” Ymir dared not say more, she feared that iIf she talked too much then Christa would know what a fumbling idiot she could be.

“…Hey. You asked if I wanted to come drink with you. And I said I had to go home with my family, but, well, I convinced them otherwise so I’m free now.” 

There was a hopeful, expectant silence from the other end that Ymir knew she had to fill. 

“Oh yeah? That’s cool, uh, good job pulling one over on the old folks you’ll have to tell me how it went. Where are you, we can come pick you up when we’re done cleaning up here”

“Im out back”

“Of the restaurant?”

“Yeah. Is that bad?”

Yes. That was bad! Very bad! Ymir wasn’t anywhere near prepared. She was covered in filthy dishwater and still had to sweep and mop, which would make her sweaty and smelly. This was not the image that she wanted to show the girl in the pretty dress. Yes, she invited her but it was a spur of the moment thing, she wanted Historia to hang out with her, but she didn’t really think the details through.

Ymir was panicking- the situation was all wrong, not at all how Ymir wanted it to go, but at the same time Ymir could not help but feel a kind of excitement that brought her back to her childhood. That electric and out of this world happiness that would come with whatever stupid things made her excited as a child. Probably legos.

“Ill be right there” and she hung up.

“What? Oh, Im by the dumpsters—hello? Ymir?”

The back door flew open and Ymir stammered out, startling Historia. She caught sight of Historia and jogged over to her.

“Uh Hey” Ymir rubbed the back of her head and looked sideways 

“Hi” Historia beamed

Ymir couldn’t help but laugh at the girls smile. It was bright, genuine, and directed at no one else but her. 

“So you tricked your parents huh?”

“I didn’t trick them, I just convinced them to go downtown while I stayed here”

“Convinced?”

“It wasn’t too hard you know, they had been drinking and wanted to keep drinking. So I just told them that they would probably have more fun if they didn’t have to worry about me….and so they left”

“They left you in a parking lot?”

“I told them I was going to my aunts”

“Ha! So you lied? What a bad girl you are.” Ymir was trying to sound sexy and hoped to whatever gods that were lurking by the dumpster of a certain New England restaurant would help her make it sound that way. It worked, Historia chuckled and offered her own attempt at being coy “Why, do you like bad girls?”

Ymir's eyes widened. She was not ready for that one. If Ymir was braver than she could have given an equally flirtatious answer, and the whole story could have ended right there, with everyone living one big gay adventure, but Ymir was not brave, and Ymir did not flirt back. Instead she dodged the question which only served to embarrass and disappoint Historia who now thought that Ymir was not interested. 

Ymir would remember this moment for a long time, thinking of things she could have said and concluding that when someone is brave enough to throw bait, you should be brave enough to take it and that she seriously underestimated the beautiful girl she met that night—she had guts. Knowing what she did back then, however, Ymir could not have acted in any other way and all the hindsight in the world wouldn’t change how scared she was, looking at the girl in the pearl-white dress and rhinestone earrings standing before her with the dumpster at her back. 

And so, Ymir dodged “Well welcome to the working class sweet thing. We’ll take good care of ya”

Historia trying to seem unfazed replied “I’d like that. You don’t have to take care of me though, I’m perfectly fine taking care of myself” How could she get her hopes up, she felt silly now, wearing what she was wearing and calling this girl not even an hour after she got her number. Well! She wouldn’t let this get her down, at least she can be friends with her, after all, Ymir didn't take back her invitation.

“A-huh, you say that but. Well doesn’t matter now, so here’s the deal. I’m not done with my shift, we still have to clean the kitchens after your family made a royal mess of the place but once we’re done we’ll all pile into Connie and Armin’s car and head to the their place” Ymir looked down at Historia who stared blankly at the ground “There wont be a fancy bar or champagne like you’re used to. Just beer and shitty apartments. If you got your hopes up then it’s your own damn fault”

“Not at all. I look forward to it” Historia returned her gaze to Ymir, her eyes were really beautiful.

“hmph” Ymir turned her attention back to work “I don’t want to make you wait out here by the dumpster but I don’t think Reiner will like you hanging around. How do you feel about helping me mop?” Ymir was half joking but was surprised to feel a small hand grip her forearm  
“I’d love to!”   
For some reason Reiner loved the idea of having one of the customers helping clean the floors. As if the world would suddenly understand how hard he worked by having this one rich girl do just a few of the menial tasks, like mopping, that left Reiner and the rest of the staff exhausted at the end of the day- so exhausted that all they wanted to do was go home, drink, and unwind. They worked hard, and when customers came in acting as though their own day jobs were much more demanding and difficult than the wait staffs’ it made Reiner’s blood boil. Not only did he harbor a deep anger towards his customers, he also really hated comforting a sobbing wait staff. 

Maybe Historia would cry? That would show them! If she didn’t, then at least they would be able to get out a little earlier with the extra help. Enlightening someone on the plight of the working class, or get out of work early. It was really just a win-win as far as Reiner saw it. So he let Historia help Ymir. 

It also could have been the fact that a girls whose dress probably cost more than the entire contents of the kitchen was gripping a mop and sloshing dirty water all over the floor offered some kind of cosmic humor than Reiner couldn’t put his finger on, but made him chuckle all the same.

Historia was sweeping the floors first. Ymir told her once the floors were clear of dirt, they could start mopping. Everyone stole glances at the girl in the beautiful dress that Ymir had sweep the floor for her. How the known anti-social dishwasher had captured the attention of one of the citys wealthiest heiress’ and gone so far as gotten her to help sweep the fucking floor was a mystery of paramount interest.

Just like the rest of the staff, Ymir liked watching the girl sweep. She wasn’t sure why, but she liked it. No, that wasn’t it at all, Ymir knew the reason she liked watching the girl sweep. The way she bent a little and wayed her porcelain shoulders, the sweat breaking on her brow and hair catching on her lip gloss as when she bent to sweep the piles into a bin. Ymirsmind wandered to when she brought entrées to the table, the way the woman sitting next to Historia glared at the girl who was doing nothing but try and keep to herself. Keeping to herself and seducing their waitress. But that wasn’t Historias fault, Ymir was just a sucker for , well, girls. She wondered if the table even noticed their interactions, she hand thought so but there was always a possibility.

Ymirs thoughts were interrupted by the line cooks, Connie and Sasha bursting through the doors with the stoic bartender, Annie, looking sour as always, carrying trays of glasses.  
The threes topped dead in the door wondering why the fuck there was a fairy godmother sweeping their kitchen.

Sasha, never at a loss for words gasped and yelled “ We have pleased the Gods of fine dining experience! Its The Kitchen God! Guys it’s the Kitchen God helping us clean! We have—  
Annie shoved her and cut her off with an icy glare “Idiot. What the hell are you even talking about, Kitchen God, she was one of the customers”

“Oh. OH. Well that's just as weird. Why is she here.?” Sasha looked at Connie and Annie who offered no explanation so she turned to Historia “Why are you here!?”

Historia was unsure what to make of the three, did they know she was right in front of them? Its not like she couldn’t hear what they said…

Smiling she leaned the broom against the wall and introduced herself “Hi, I'm Historia, Im helping you guys clean up”

Connie and Sasha took her hand hesitantly, Annie walked off without a word “What did you forget to tip or something?” thinking he was clever, though he knew that the group of rich folks had paid their bill in full along with a generous tip before they even began eating.

Either way, Historia laughed lightly and explained she was a friend of Ymirs.

“WHAT” Connie yelled and looked over Historias shoulder to see Ymir stalking over “Uh. I mean what, why—when did you, uh, I mean you’re so…and Ymir, she, she’s so….” 

“Historia, meet Connie: poet, vegetable chopper, baldie” Ymir smirked.

Historia turned her head to Ymir, hands clasped behind her back, “we’ve met”

“Yeah? Well that makes it easy. Historia here is going to party with us later. I told her we’d show her how the rest of the world gets down!”

“That’s awesome, let us take care of you, we’ll show you a good time!” Connie burst, perhaps a little too eagerly. 

“These idiots here do all the prep cooking, chopping, and...” she glanced over to catch Sasha pulling half-eaten dinner rolls out of her apron “and eating.” Ymir scrunched her nose in disgust and touched Historia’s shoulder lightly “those are the slobs that made your food”

“Hey we’re not slobs!” Sasha said, with bread still in her mouth

“And they didn’t make your food. I did!” Reiner chimed, turning back to scraping the grills. 

“Jesus is everyone in this kitchen an eavesdropper? “ Ymir groaned. 

Ignoring Ymir’s comment, Historia called back to Reiner “It was delicious. Thank you sir! And Connie, Sasha, thank you too. You did a wonderful job” Her smile was saccharine and gentle. Even Sasha swooned.

“Don’t call me sir. That’s my mothers name- call me Reiner Ms. Reiss”

“And you can call me Krista”

Surprised Ymir looked down at the girl she knew as Historia “Krista? You told me your name was Historia”

“Well, that’s what my family calls me, but Id like you to call me Krista”

“But on the phone you said--”

“That’s what you knew me as, I didn’t want you to hang up on me so why would I use a different name than the one you knew? If you recall you never actually asked for my name you just assumed…”

Ymir was getting flustered, a very uncommon emotion in her experience “Wha-well how the hell was I supposed to know you had a different name than what people call you!”  
This waitress was turning out to be more fun than Krista had thought. Sure, her dancer-like build was gorgeous, her walk was dashing, and her smile was sexy, but her personality was ….complicated. It was helpful to know that even she could get flustered. It made Krista a little less nervous. 

As the night went on, Krista cleaned the floors while Ymir did the dishes. Occasionally Berthold, who she now knew was the head waiter, Levi, the mysterious waiter, and Armin the waiter that served her father's table earlier, would come in and drop off dishes. 

It didn’t take long for Historia to be initiated into the group. It was a reason why Ymir liked the place so much, if you did your job, people liked you.   
“Historia, you missed a spot!” Connie and Sasha tried to contain their laughter as they wiped food scraps from the counters. 

“Oh no, not lettuce, anything but that!” Ymir mocked “ Jesus guys, if you are trying to tease someone at least make it believable” Ymir took the broom from Historia and swept up the head of lettuce and some other veggies from the tiled floor.

“Hey being an asshole doesn’t come as easy to us as it does to you Ymir” Connie retorted

“Rather be an asshole than a total idiot” Ymir smiled wryly from where she was standing. Sasha moved to push more food scraps onto the floor, locking eyes with Ymir  
“Don’t you fucking do it”

Sashas eyes narrowed, but she didn’t back down- the onions moved closer to the edge of the counter.

“This is your last chance you glutton. Those. Onions. Will Not. Move” 

Historia watched, unsure if what she was watching was a real standoff or just co-workers goofing off and simply playing at aggression. Ymir was scary, but she couldn’t be that scary if her co-workers were messing with her ,could she? 

The onion scraps hit the floor in what seemed like slow motion. Ymirs face twisted into anger and she leapt at the poor line cook, slamming the head of the broom against the counter, missing by only inches. Sasha let out a loud laugh and disappeared behind a corner.

Ymir turned on her heels to chase after the mischievous line cook l but stopped when she felt a small hand on her back. 

“ Ymir…Reiner told us to mop” Historia heard somewhere that the best way to stop a baby’s crying was to direct its attention elsewhere. Maybe it would work on Ymir and her aggression?

“Hmph. Fine. Ill get the food demons later I guess” Ymir showed Historia the supply closet where they could fill the mop bucket from a small faucet attached to the wall. As the hour went on, the kitchen crew settled into their duties and Ymir and Historia talked and teased while they cleaned the floors. 

“Youre doing it all wrong you know” Ymir offered from her position, leaning against the wall. She had finished the dishes and took to watching Krista mop in her heals. Really liking how shoes accentuated the finer points of the female ankles and appreciating how the slit in the side of the dress allowed Ymir to see the way Kristas ankles swept up to meet her calves. 

“Well then, why don’t you do it, after-all you’re just standing there”

Ymir approached Krista “ You are the one that offered to help, who am I to get in the way of your kindness?” 

Krista just rolled her eyes and let Ymir take the mop from her, surprised at how deftly the woman handled it. As she watched she couldn’t help but think, that Ymir made mopping look like an art. The movement of her arms and hips extended smoothly the handle and the end of the mop. 

“Don’t fight it, make the mop work for you. Keep it at an angle and push from the end, moving your hips and use your body weight for pressure, not your arms”

“…Ok” if she knew learning could be this sexy she would have asked her parents for a different tutor instead of sticking with that old guy for so long. 

“Ok, now try again” Ymir handed the mop to Krista and returned to her spot on the wall. As Krista dipped the mop and wrung it she couldn’t help but be aware of Ymirs eyes on her. It was making her nervous to say the least, and being unable to concentrate on the finer points of mopping filthy floors Ymir was at her side again, sighing.

“Look, here, like this” She took Kristas hands in her own, they were rough but warm. “Put this one here, and this one” she took Kristas other hand and placed it near the top “here. And then turn your body, like this” “Ymir took Krista's shoulders and turned her body to face sideways “and now you can start”

It did feel easier, the mop offered less resistance this way but she was still feeling a pain in her lower back “Jesus you’re shiTty at this”

“Well! I've never done it like this before. I didn’t know there was this much…method into cleaning!” 

“There's a method to everything. You just gotta find it. Or have someone teach it to you” 

Ymir moved behind Krista, encircling her, Krista could feel the warmth of the girl and felt the back of her shoulders brush against the girls lean collar bone. “Move with me, okay? Think of it like….uh…dancing I guess. Real fluid, like water. Should be easy for you this way- you’re a pampered girl I'm sure they sent you to endless Ballet classes”

Damn. She was right on the mark. Krista had been to endless Ballet classes at the behest of her aunt, who thought for every bumbling boy with two left feet there should be a girl who is as graceful as a swan, to compliment him at parties. Her aunt was out of touch, most people don’t dance formally anymore, and Krista knowing how only served to further embarrass the men. She liked the dancing lessons, despite it being one of the many seemingly endless slew of private lessons forced upon from a young age that would make her into a debutante while also taking from her the childhood she so wished she could have. Despite it all, she loved to dance.

Ymir tried to remain a distance from the girl, so as not to give off any creepy vibes, fully unaware at how much the smaller girl was enjoying it For a moment the filthy mop left her hands and the stainless steal kitchen disappeared from their view. Krista was swaying side to side with the dark and beautiful waitress she had met only hours ago. Her slender, rough hands rested on Krista’s, helping to grip the mop, while the other guided her hips through the motions. It was safe to say Krista was smitten. There was no way she was going to give up on this girl without a fight. With the way Ymir held her waist...maybe she was only playing at not being interested....

“Do you get it now?” Ymir let go, rather unceremoniously and walked back to her spot against the wall.

Krista snapped out of her daze and look at the woman who had been holding her hips and swaying gently to the rhythm of hidden music and attempted a stammering “Y-yes. Thank you” Utterly embarrassed at her daydreaming and hoping that Ymir could not read minds she turned to face the other wall and continued cleaning. 

 

\----------

 

They all piled into Connie and Armins car with Reiner at the front, Sasha, Armin and Annie squeezed in the back with Ymir by the window. Krista stood outside crestfallen “I guess I wont fit” Preparing to call her driver to come get her and take her home, where she would l lay face down on her bed and wonder what even made her think she had a chance to get close to the tall beauty that was Ymir.

“What the hell are you talking about, there’s plenty of room” Ymir patted her lap and flashed a wicked smile.

“Uh..Wait, isn’t that illegal, I wont have a seat belt.” Krista was trying to be polite when really, her heart was singing.

Sasha leaned her head over Annie and Ymir “Don’t worry! It’s a short drive, we’ve done it tons of times-oof-"

Annie pushed Sasha's face back rolled her eyes. Krista looked at her new friends, all smiling happily at her, and climbed in. Making sure to tuck her dress under her, she adjusted herself on Ymir’s lap. She felt long arms snake around her waist and Ymir’s head pressed against her back “You got the best seat-belt modern technology has to offer. Top of the line!” Ymir gave a slight squeeze to prove her point.

“And we’re off!” Connie yelled back, putting his car in gear and pulling out the parking lot. The ride only felt like seconds, with Ymir holding Krista from the back. Krista couldn’t help but smile at the way the woman tightened her grip on Krista when they rounded corners and hit stop lights. It was as if she was trying to keep the girl comfortable and it felt, for the first time in a long while, like someone was trying to keep her safe. Krista relaxed into the woman's hold. 

They reached the liquor store, a lonely shop with a tapestry of neon lights from beers long forgotten that sat at the edge of route 30, a quiet forest road that lead away from the burning city lights. Reiner turned his head “Alright guys, Bert and Levi are going to pick up Mikasa and Eren, so its our job duty to get the supplies!”

“Tequila!” Piped Sasha 

“Gin for me” Armin offered 

“….” Annie added helpfully

“shut the fuck up! We’re getting Vodka and Coronas, got it? Now hand over your tips” 

“You’re such a meat head Reiner” Ymir yelled over Krista's shoulder 

“A meat head with more money than the rest of you bums! So we’re getting what I want!” With that Reiner leapt out of the car and ran into the store.


	4. To party with a Proletariat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Woo. Parties and car rides. Warning for swearing and drinking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you like it! Constructive criticism is always appreciated!

Sitting on Ymirs lap for so long, Krista began to worry that she was too heavy, and was making the girls long legs go numb. Doing her best to turn around meet the girls eyes she ventured a light “Um…Ymir Im heavy aren’t I? I can get out and give you a break while we wait for Reiner to come back”

She seemed to have broken a stream of thought Ymir was floating on, for a brief moment Krista thought she caught a glimpse of Ymir looking rather unguarded as she gazed out the window, but the vision quickly dissipated as tall girl with the wicked smile returned to answer “Heavy? You kidding? You’re like a hat” Before Krista could laugh she felt Ymir pull the strap of her dress “Whats this thing made out of anyway?” 

“Sunshine and Rainbows” Krista replied flatly. “Wha-, haha, hey did you just make a joke princess?”

Suddenly Reiner flew open the door and threw himself in the car. He tossed the large brown bag of booze into the back, onto Annies lap who caught it deftly and threw back a glare.

He started rifling through another small bag he kept up front and turned in his seat to face the back with a handful of tiny bottles with colorful caps. He smiled broadly, obviously very satisfied with himself .

“For the road! The party starts now!” He bellowed 

Armin was the first to grab one, it was a clear one with a green label “Oh I love Apple Smirnoff, thanks Reiner!”  
Ymir felt Krista hesitate and moved her hand to the girls shoulder “They’re all pretty much disgusting. Just grab one” she said into her ear. 

Ymir seemed to see right through Krista's indecision, ignoring the sensation of her breath on Krista's ear, she took two tiny bottles from Reiners hand and passed one on to the girl she was sitting on. 

“We better trade, I don’t think you’ll like the one you’re about to open—its real cheap whiskey. Not like the expensive champagne you were drinking earlier” 

“Its fine” Krista huffed, determined to prove Ymir wrong. She didn’t like to be baby sat- she had always been baby sat, and Ymir was her first friend she had made outside her family connections. She was the last person Krista wanted to baby her.   
“All right everyone! Cheers!” Everyone but Connie, who was driving, twisted the tiny caps and threw down the booze, one by one. 

Krista felt a burning sensation in her throat and despite her efforts, choked. “Ha. Told you” she could feel Ymir’s smirk from behind her, but she felt Ymir’s arms rub her back “you’re fine princess”. Armin offered his bottle of water. Connie started the car and they were off again.

......

 

The car pulled into a long gravel driveway lined with chain link fences and trash cans. The driveway was wedged between a large brick building with broken windows, probably an old factory, and Sasha’s apartment, a two floored duplex with peeling green paint. The car stopped just shy of the tall cinder block wall with beer cans and plastic bags sticking out of the crumbling spots. 

Krista did not want to get out. She was warm and comfortable, the Whiskey combined with the champagne she had earlier was starting to sink in, making her feel fuzzy and calm. Besides, sitting on Ymir was nice. Maybe too nice. With the way Ymir was acting, the car ride may well have been the only time Krista would be able to touch her in such an intimate way for a long time. 

She didn’t want to seem weird or anything. But it felt nice to be close to someone, and there was something about Ymirs prickliness that Krista liked. Perhaps this is what real friends feel like? Or maybe just the sexy friends. She wasn’t really sure, Krista had never really had many friends, much less sexy friends. 

“You gunna’ get off?” Ymir asked impatiently. “Wha-Oh! Sorry” Krista opened the door and jumped off Ymir as fast as she could. The tall girl unfolded herself from the car and reached down to touch her toes “ooohh man. That feels good” The leather jacket looked a little weird with a tie and white button down. Ymirs black dress pants and shiny black shoes only seemed to elongate her body, making her look even taller.

“Are you sore?” Krista asked hesitantly. “Nah Im fine. Just like to stretch is all” replied Ymir with a smirk, standing up and reaching her full height, which was, at least a few heads taller than Krista. 

“Ready to head upstairs?”

“Yeah!” Kista squeaked. It only made Ymir laugh and pat her on the back. “Once we get inside, we’ll get you out of that dress” she winked, causing Krista to blush furiously but she was determined to maintain herself “What do you mean?”   
“Don’t you mind Ymir. Shes just trying to get a rise outta’ ya’. She just means we want to get you changed into something more comfortable. That dress is pretty, but it must not be comfy. You can wear my clothes, you should be able to fit since you’re such a little thing” Sasha trudged by carrying a box of beers. 

“Oh. Yeah. I do feel a little out of place. Thank you Sasha, that’s very kind of you” Sasha smiled, walked up the steps and unlocked her rickety door. The group followed, leaving Krista and Ymir by the car.

“Thanks for inviting me” Krista looked absently at her shoes, short, white heels.

“ No problem, you kinda looked like you could use some rescuing back there. That lady, the one next to you, seemed like a total bitch.”

“ My aunt. Yeah…well, she doesn’t like being stuck sitting next to me so, she was acting like that for a reason I guess.”

“She doesn’t like sitting next to you? What, did you kick her in the cunt or something?”

“Ymir!”

Ymir laughed “well, I would. You weren’t even doing anything- you hardly talked at all! The one time you tried to contribute to conversation she shut you down. She’s got something in her ass, definitely”

It seemed that Ymir had been watching more closely than Krista had thought. When did she see all these interactions? Krista chuckled, thankful for the tall girl’s warm, and quite profane, concern. 

“Maybe she does have a stick in her butt” Krista covered her mouth, giggling.

“More like a telephone pole” Ymir smiled. “Ohmy-! Oh my god!” Krista burst out in laughter, uninhibited and loud. Ymir just watched the small girl try and cover her face, bending over in fits, her blonde hair lit by the flickering light of a lonely street in a forgotten part of the city.

“Lets go upstairs” Ymirs hand hesitantly went to Krista’s shoulder, guiding her up the steps and through th door. Once inside they started up the dilapidated steps, Sasha lived on the second floor of a crumbling house, each step groaned and warped under their weight. “Careful of that one, step in the middle, if you hit the edge just right it comes flying off. 

Nearly killed me at the last party” Ymir looked behind her at the delicate girl she was leading up the steps. The girl was using one hand to hold the railing and the other to hold up the hem of her dress as she climbed the steps. “Here” Ymir offered her hand, too embarrassed to look the girl in the eye, and continued climbing the steps. 

Krista smiled to herself. Maybe if she was the princess Ymir was the prince? How stupid, how could she think something like that? 

Once inside they heard laughter coming from around the corner. Still holding Krista’s hand Ymir led her down the hall and into the kitchen, where everyone was gathered around a paint stained wooded table in the middle of the room. She dropped her hand as they entered. 

“Dude. Just play a card, any card! It doesn’t matter!” Connie had his head in his hands, Berthold was staring intently at a handful of cards. Annie was standing behind him sipping his drink and there were a couple others Krista hadn’t seen yet. Reiner and Armin were busy mixing something with Vodka.

“Oh! Theres more people here. Uh hi! Im Krista” Krista never seemed to miss a beat. Not being intimidated or tired out by social interactions like Ymir. 

“Nice to meet you! Im Eren, that’s my sister Mikasa, and this is Levi” The boy just introduced as Levi regarded Krista with a slight nod. “So you’re Ymir’s friend huh?” 

“Yep!” She nodded vigorously, looking up at the girl standing next to her. Reiner came over to them, and shoved drinks in their hands “here you are ladies, the Reiner special. Tall, strong, and handsome” he winked at Krista playfully. “more like short, stocky and relentlessly meaty eyebrows”

“Just drink it and shut up” Reiner scoffed. 

Sasha lept out of her seat "Krista, follow me! I'll lend you some clothes" Grabbing Krista's hand she led her into her room, and handed her a long-sleeved blue shirt with black jeans and a grey sweatshirt.

"Thanks Sahsa"

"Ha, no problem. They're a little big on you, but I bet it's a lot more comfortable" Krista told her that yes, it was indeed more comfortable than her dress. She slid off her shoes and put on a pair of Sasha's sandals, they were the only things that her feet didnt just slide out of when she tried walking.

She and Sasha emerged out of her room to find Ymir leaning against the wall by the door, waiting. "Better?" she looked down at Christa, whose hands were hidden inside sleeves, and with pants bunched at the bottom of her foot. "Much" she replied.

"You uh. Look cute" Ymir said over her shoulder as she walked back towards the kitchen.

Krista's eyes widened in shock. Did the tall, dark and sexy Ymir just call her cute!?  
"  
"Woah. Gotta say, never heard that word come out of Ymir's mouth" Sasha turned to look at Krista who had her hand over her mouth, still in a state of disbelief. "You alright?" She moved to stand in front of Krista "Helloooo"

"Oh yeah. Im fine. What do you mean, what word has never come out of Ymir's mouth?"

"I just never heard her call anyone cute before. She calls people stupid all the time, but never cute. You must be special" Sasha nudged her elbow into Kristas ribs. Krista just sighed "Im nothing special. Lets just go...I think I need a drink" 

"Ok! Reiner makes the best drinks" Sasha jumped and ran into the kitchen. Krista, followed, trying to calm her nerves.

 

....

 

The night went on, they played cards, music and an enormously embarrassing game of charades which, they found, Krista was pretty good at. Krista had a lot of fun, though the booze was pretty gross, it was bearable. As she shared laughter with her new friends, and, more than occasionally caught Ymir staring at her, Krista realized this was the happiest she’d been in, well, ever.

As the night wound down, some of them retired to the living room to pass out. Krista found Ymir smoking a cigarette on the rickety porch adjoining the kitchen. 

“I had fun tonight”

“S’good” Ymir exhaled absently, sending a cloud of smoke billowing out to the city skyline.

“I cant stay here though. I have to go home—If my parents don’t find me in my room tomorrow morning I’ll be….in a lot of trouble” Krista looked down at the floor. The floor boards were rotting, leaving holes where she could see the street below. It made her a little nervous.

“You mean this morning” Ymir finally turned to look at her. “What?” Krista glanced up”Oh. Oh yeah I guess its tomorrow already,ha”

Ymir tossed the cigarette butt over the edge and inched closer to Krista, their shoulders were touching as they leaned against the wall. “How you getting home?”

“I was thinking I would just call a cab”

“Hm” They shared a comfortable silence for awhile before Ymir finally spoke “Cant let a princess go home alone this late at night. Grab your dress, lets go”

“What! No, Ymir its fine. I can go by myself” 

“Whatever you say” Ymir stubbed out her cigarette and ducked inside. Krista crept into Sasha’s room, where the girl was sprawled out, fully clothed, in a deep, open mouthed sleep. Sasha was a nice girl, Krista was looking forward to seeing her again when she gave the girl her clothes back. Careful not to wake her, though she doubted it was possible, Krista grabbed the dress she left hanging in the closet. She then went to kitchen to sit with Ymir while she waited for her cab.

When she saw the car pull up, she said goodbye to Ymir and made her way to the steps. She turned to see the tall girl following her, with hands in her pockets. “Ymir! I said I don’t need you to come with me! Besides, how would you get home?” Ymir just flashed one of her signature smirks, confident and easy “why don’t you let me worry about that”  
There was no way to convince Ymir that she could take a cab on her own. She was far too stubborn—besides, Krista could not help but think how nice it would be to spend just a little more time with Ymir. Just the two of them, well, and the cab driver too. 

Ymir opened the door and let Krista slide in first before plopping herself into the back seat.

“Where to?” The driver yawned 

“Acadia Heights please” 

“Woah. Fancy. I knew you were a princess”

“Shut up!” Krista moved to hit Ymir playfully on the arm, but the girl grabbed her by the wrist and tugged Krista into warm embrace, with her face pressed up against the girl’s chest. Krista inhaled the girls scent deeply, letting it fill her lungs, and looked up to meet Ymir’s intense gaze. Was this really happening?

Ymir held Krisa’s gaze, surprised the small girl didn’t flinch or try to move away. Her blue eyes were glimmering, her lips were pink and glistening from her lip gloss. Ymir wanted to kiss her badly, but she couldn’t. She did not want to risk scaring her away. She loved the way her small body felt against her own and she could not bring herself to make a move. All she could do was chuckle “get some sleep. Ill wake you when we get to your house”

“…kay” disappointed, Krista rested her head against the tall girls chest, before closing her eyes she caught a peek of the girls profile as she gazed out the window. Her neck was long, and the way the passing streetlights played against her jaw and check bones, bringing out the freckles. She was stunning. As she closed her eyes, Krista could not help but realize the sinking feeling in her chest, the twinge of disappointment. She knew what she had wanted to happen just moments ago, she wanted Ymir to close the distance between them. But for some reason, Krista was no longer afraid. 

She felt a nudge as she opened her eyes “Wake up short stuff. We’re here”


	5. Raise High The Ladder Gardeners!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Krista and Ymir try to sneak into Krista's house without alerting her parents or the staff.

“Mmm? Oh, right. Can you hand me my purse?” Ymir leaned down to the floor, where kristas bag and dress were folded neatly over her ratty shoes. It wasn’t the best place, but she had been drinking and she sure as hell didn’t want to forget the stuff in the cab.

Krista rummaged through her bag and pulled out a wad of bills, handing it to the driver. “Jesus” Ymir said under her breath, horrified at the amount showing on the ticker in the front seat. There way no way she could get home. It was at least twice as far back through the city and across the river to her place. Guess she was sleeping outside tonight.  
It was a warm and wet mid-summers night. Ymir could hear the crickets and smell the wet grass when she stepped out the cab. The air in the suburbs was cleaner, and she could smell what summer nights were supposed to smell like—grass, pavement wet from night time sprinklers, and dirt. Not like it was in the city. 

Krista got out of the cab groggily “Here, Ill walk you to your door” Ymir said, reaching for Krista’s small hand.

“No! the cab will leave! just stay here” Krista was suddenly awake.

“Its fine, I’ll walk, I don’t live too far” Ymir lied. “Really? How come I’ve never seen you before? Do you live with your parents”

“My uncle” came the terse response. Another lie. Ymir lived alone in a one room apartment on the top of some old woman’s tenant house. She lived with 4 other people, sharing a bathroom, and her room was in the attic—which got absolutely stifling in the summer. 

Krista thanked the driver and took Ymir’s large hand in her own, leading her though the gates of her parents property, starting down the long winding driveway. “Jesus. You cant even see your house from the driveway. Just how rich are you?”

“Not me. My parents. And very” Krista’s mouth curled, even Ymir was astonished—Krista had hoped that Ymir didn’t care about money, and she was hoping that she didn’t make a mistake.

“What weirdos. If I had as much as your parents seem to I would just sock it away- spending it on trips around the world. Not…fucking bushes shaped like dolphins” Though it was dark, the moon was out and with the help of some well placed ground lights along the driveway, allowed the two to see well enough to walk comfortably. As well as see the Reiss’s taste in…landscaping.

A wave of relief washed over Krista at Ymir’s comment. Good. She really didn’t care about money, or, if she did, she didn’t care for the way her parents chose to spend it. Frankly, neither did Krista, she was happy they agreed, though Ymir was not aware of this. She kept the thought to herself and continued walking towards her house.

As the house came into view Ymir let out a low whistle. A large white house, fashioned in the Greco-Roman revival of Victorian New Orleans towered over the driveway as it ended in a rotary, decorated with a flowering fountain. The windows were tall and sported billowing white curtains, the front porch wrapped around the entire front, with hanging swings for sipping iced tea on sweltering summer days. The overhanging roof was supported by six large white Corinthian columns, two stories in height. 

Ymir glanced down at Krista, who had seemed to be walking slower as they approached, her shoulders starting to hang. “You alright short stuff?”

“Yeah” she said softly. “Ahuh…..” Ymir muttered. She felt a tug on her hand, as Krista led them onto the lawn and around the house. Ymir did not ask why they weren’t going through the front door—she knew exactly why. Krista had a reputation to uphold, and judging by the size of the house, there was probably staff hanging around, who would not hesitate to tell her parents of her late night arrival.

Heavy summer air, thick with the buzz of insects and dark despite the stars covered them as they walked to the side of the house. Krista walked ahead with an urgency to her steps. Ymir just watched the girl, her anxiety both amused and broke her heart. She wanted to hold her and make all the girl’s worries disappear. But she knew she could not. She couldn't ever make anything go away, she hardly had control of her life, let alone the weight of trouble resting on the shoulders of the small girl in front of her.

“Okay,” Krista breathed “Now we just need to get the ladder”

“ Ladder? You’re joking right?”

“W-well no….I'm not. This is the only way I can get in”

Ymir let out a long breath and glanced up at the night sky. She couldn’t believe that it was this complicated, so much for taking the girl home and then leaving after an awkward pause like in all the movies. Though she had to admit, she liked how this situation was playing out. Krista seemed to trust her with this weird situation….it was nice. 

“You’re complicated, you know that?” She meant it to sound funny, but Krista looked crestfallen, and for some reason Ymir did something she never really cared to do  
“Hey hey, don’t give me that look. I like it this way. S’interesting” She gave her a brotherly pat on the back. Krista looked at the grass beneath her feet, a slow smile creeping from the tips of her heart strings to the ends of her cheeks.

“Yeah” she said softly “Okay so, this part was always hard for me, so Im really glad to have someone strong with me” Ymir, looking very pleased with herself, shimmied out of her leather jacket, letting it fall to the grass, and rolled up the sleeves of her waiters uniform. For added measure she flexed her arms and squeezed her biceps “lead the way.”

Krista let out a short laugh and guided them to the shed near the edge of the property, making sure to make a mental note to compliment Ymir more. What a softie.

Krista unlocked the door to the shed, which looked like a small version of Krista’s house. “For being rich, your parents sure have hokey taste”

“Tell me about it” Krista groaned. “Okay, its here, but its kind of stuck underneath—“ Ymir shoved the old lawn chairs and gardening equipment off the ladder and jerked it out of its place, the metal on metal clanging as they shifted and folded onto each other.

“Shh! Ymir! You’re way too loud” Krista rushed to put her hands on Ymir’s to stop her from pulling the ladder out any more. “Right. Sorry. Uh it looks like there's a hose or something tangled at the bottom, if you can get that out then I think we can pull it out without making too much more noise”

Krista snaked her way over to the ladder, gingerly balancing on piles of razor edged saws, clippers and shovels . Placing her hand on the wall for balance Krista edged along workbenches and using seed bags and cedar chips as jumping off points. Ymir called from the other side of the shed “So you didn’t tell me you were fucking Spiderman” 

Krista let out a loud laugh and covered her mouth in surprise. She shot Ymir a smile that made Ymir's heart skip about 4 beats, she forgot to breath as she watched the girl crouch and untangle the ladder. Her small hands moving nimbly, her mind tracing the complicated mess that looked as though there were about ten hoses twisted into a dark green pile of Rubiks tubes. Krista was patient, and the ladder was soon freed. “Okay Ymir, Ill grab this end and you pull from that side”

Ymir waited for Krista to lift before she pulled the ladder out, gripping the rungs and passing them from hand to hand as she guided the gigantic ladder out and onto the grass. Grabbing it at the middle, she waited for Krista to make her way out. 

“you really are strong” Krista smiled, which only made Ymir blush and turn away “Yeah yeah. Well it comes with the territory. I'm huge after all—I mean, as far as girls go. Now, where we puttin’ this ?”

“Well I'm tiny as far as girls go, I got all the size issues with none of the perks” Krista said over her shoulder , adding “But I like you as you are, if that helps, titan size and all”   
“Thanks squirt” Ymir said quietly. Feeling the lush grass under her feet, the dew soaking into her shoes and the Krista's small figure silhouetted against the moonlight was making Ymir's heart beat through to her ears. 

Krista lightly laid her hand on the front of the ladder, helping to steer it towards the house. “Theres my window” Ymir wordlessly moved to set up against the house. This time taking extra care to lay it soundlessly at the edge of her windowsill.

“Could you hold it for me?” Ymir shrugged and held it for her as the girl took the first few steps up the ladder, she couldn’t help but admire the view of Krista’s…uh…backside. “Hey hold on a sec, what about your dress?” she asked Krista.

“Oh shoot! Uh, do you think you could throw it to me once I get in?” she whispered down to Ymir who grunted a ‘sure’

Krista was three stories up, she had done this before and wasn’t nervous, especially because she knew she had Ymir waiting at the bottom. Something about her presence made Krista feel safe. Though she didn’t want to tell her that. 

Ymir, on the other hand, was a bundle of nerves as she watched Krista climb higher and higher. 

Krista reached the top and jimmied the window. It didn’t budge so she tried pushing from the bottom and pulling at the top part. Nothing happened. Frustrated she started to really thrash at it, making the ladder shake 

“Hey! Cut it out, you’ll fall if you keep that up” Ymir called from the ground. “It..its stuck!” Krista called back. “Well Jesus you’re not guna get it like that. Come down here and let me try”  
Krista sighed. Embarrassed at how this was turning out. She really hoped that Ymir wouldn’t think she was a hopeless mess. When she reached the bottom Ymir reached out and grabbed her waist, and helped her down—though she didn’t need it, it felt nice. They stood at the bottom of the ladder, Ymir still gently touching Krista's hips. Krista looked up at the tall girl, dressed in a well fitted shirt and black pants, her freckles made her look young and innocent while her almond shaped eyes gave off a sexy smoky gaze. Krista gazed up at her and took a step closer. “Thanks for the help” She pressed her head against the girls chest and loosely wrapped her arms around the girl.   
\  
She felt Ymir’s long lean body stiffen, moving her hands from Krista’s hips to her shoulders, feeling the slightness of her shoulders under her large hands. Though Krista was small she felt…solid and real under her touch. It thrilled Ymir. Thrilled and scared her. “U-uh yeah. Anytime. I really don’t like the idea of peeling a Krista pancake off your lawn at 3 in the morning. So let the pros handle it, okay?”

Krista had really hoped that Ymir would do something in that moment instead of freeze up. Though Ymir’s awkwardness was making Krista want to push her to the ground and mash their faces together, she remembered awkward was good. It was good because it meant Ymir was nervous and nervous combined with coming all the way out here to take Krista home meant she was interested. At least she hoped so, otherwise Ymir was nicest person in the world which seemed like it wasn’t likely. Krista breathed a contented sigh, she would have her gentle giant with the smoky eyes and cocky smile—she just had to be patient. 

Ymir made her way to the the top of the ladder, not noticing Krista’s eyes glued to her ass. Dayum that ass…

“This thing really is fucking stuck” Krista was too entranced with the view of Ymir from below to even hear her. Ymir struggled with it for awhile before it finally cracked open. She lifted it with a grunt and climbed inside to find something to prop it open. The room was huge, but pretty dark, she fumbled around for a bookshelf, finding one near the canopy bed. She wanted to know what Krista liked to read, probably a bunch of self help and romance books she imagined. When she stuffed a pile of books under the window the moon gave enough light for her to read some of the titles and her breath caught. They were all poetry collections. “Fuck…we even have the same taste in books” She climbed out and before she began her descent she caught a fleeting look at Krista’s bed, from canopy hung white, nearly transparent fabric that glowed in the moonlight, swaying gently with the summer breeze. It was almost holy the way that bed looked under the moonlight. Ymir chased away the thoughts of nights spent lazily laying in the soft embrace of the bed with a sleeping Krista at her arm. She turned her attention instead to getting down the ladder, landing on the soft grass with a soft “thwump”

“Alright you’re up kiddo” She smiled 

“Don’t call me that. And thanks” Krista patted Ymir on the shoulder and climbed up. She jumped inside, suddenly grateful that Sasha had loaned her clothes so Ymir couldn’t see up her dress. She popped her head out only to see Ymir trying to throw her dress up and failing. She tossed it up, the dress made it less than halfway up before gently gliding back down to Ymir.

“Krista you’re on the third floor of a fucking mansion, this isn’t a basket ball it’s a dress. Im coming up, theres no way its guna make it up there”

“Fine; just be careful”

“Yeah yeah” When Ymir made it to the top Krista was leaning out the window, when Ymir looked up she nearly fell off the ladder at how close their faces were. “Uhh..here” she handed the dress to Krista.

Krista had Ymir trapped, actually being in the window while Ymir was on the ladder leaning into the room was quite exhilarating. Romantic even. The smell of Ymir mixed with the summer air and the sound of leaves in the wind, Krista suddenly understood the Romeo and Juliet scene and thought that Shakespeare should have written in a ladder instead of Romeo calling to Juliet from the bushes. Those freckles, oh, those freckles on dark skin, how she loved it. Ymir was close, and she had been so sweet all night, Krista thoughts were getting drowned out by her heartbeat.

Krista couldn’t help it, she leaned in and kissed Ymir on the cheek “Thanks” she whispered into the tall girls ear, brushing her dark hair aside. Ymir froze. Gripping the ladder with white knuckles. The blonde girls hair was shining, her bright blue eyes glistening with affection. She was so pretty, Ymir could hardly breath.

Ymir fumbled for words, but before she could say anything they heard voices coming from below. 

Krista gasped and without missing a beat pulled Ymir inside. “OW shit Krista, windowsills aren’t made of fucking pillows your know”

“SHH” she pushed the ladder down and closed the window. The ladder landed with a loud “THUNK”

“That wasn’t suspicious at all” Ymir chided. Krista panicked, she knew the night crew would be changing shift about now. She scolded herself for her forgetfulness “OH shit! You’re right. Shh listen”

Ymir's eyes widened “Did you just say ‘shit’?” 

Krista did not have the patience for this. “Ymir. Hush” she placed her hand over Ymirs mouth. And pulled her down to sit on the floor just below the window in alarm. Ymir hit the floor harder than Krista had intended, letting out a loud grunt. Krista gave her an apologetic look and motioned for Ymir to remain quiet. They sat shoulder to shoulder as the moonlight spilled in from the window, casting a pool of light on Krista’s floor in front of them . They listened to the voices below.

“Did you hear that?” A mans voice asked

“It sounded like something fell off the roof” Another replied. 

The voices were louder this time, just below the window “A ladder fell…How the hell did it get here?”

“Who knows. Probably one of the gardeners left it here, I think they were cleaning the gutters on the roof today”

“But why did it fall now?” The voice sounded skeptical “Could someone have just broken in? Maybe we should go check…it looks like it either fell from the study or Miss Reiss’s room”

Krista’s body went rigid, if they came up here to inspect the issue they would surely find Ymir. Coming in late would get her into trouble, but would be nowhere near the gravity of the consequences that would come from keeping a stranger in her room in the middle of the night. Even if she was a girl. She held her breath hoping, no begging that they would leave it alone.

“Nah. I just got off shift I bet it was just the wind, its probably been propped up since this morning and finally fell down. I'm sure we woulda' heard Miss Reiss if there was an intruder” the other man dismissed.

“Yeah I guess. Hey how’d you know it was Miss Reiss’s room anyhow?” The first voice chided. “ Oh c’mon, I make it a point to see if I can catch her changing every time I get off shifts. I saw her once by accident when left the lights on and I’ve been hoping ever since”

“You dog! How was she?” The first voice prodded, giddy with excitement.

Ymir glanced over at Krista, her face had gone white, her hands were gripping the material on Sashas’ sweatshirt. Poor Krista, she had so many people around her all the time, she probably could never get a moments peace…now she knows that the people around her are ogling her too. Ymir felt sick, she knew she had done the same. After all the trust Krista put in her…how could she betray her like that?

“She’s hot, pal. Real hot. If I could tap that, Id be a happy man. Whoever gets to marry her is a real lucky guy”

At the mention of a marriage and ‘a guy’ Ymir inwardly cringed. If she was allowed to marry Krista she would treat her much better than any fucking guy could. Damn, no—she cant think that way. She cant! She just met her! And plus, Krista didn’t swing that way, she was sure of it.

“You hear about what Mr. Reiss is up to?” asked a voice conversationally, it was getting harder to hear.  
\  
“whats that asshole up to now…” The voices trailed off into the distance, leaving Krista and Ymir alone in the moonlit room once again.

“Hey…you okay?” Ymir asked, her eyes trained on the opposite wall. “Y-yeah. I just…I mean I know that some of the people that work here…well, its not like I care or anything. I just wish I didn’t hear that is all” She said dejectedly, looking down at her bare feet—she really wished Ymir hadn’t heard that either, but she did.

“Forget those assholes. Get your dad to fire them, that’ll teach ‘em to peep on girls, the dirty bastards!” Ymir brushed a piece of grass off her shoulder and tried hard to make her tone sound fearless “Or, you know what’ll teach ‘em, if you get undressed with the lights on, make real show of it, like all windows open and music blaring and all, and then put something real weird on, like uh.. a clown suit or like huge spiked bra with a whip and just eat. Eat like 30 cheeseburgers right in front of the window, get it all over you. Like mustard and burger crumbs and stuff, eat really messy like. Freak ‘em out, make them think you’re gross and they’ll never ogle you again!” Ymir tried to laugh but it came out dry and forced. Her whole speech just hung there in the air. She knew she was blowing it, Krista didn’t say a word, she just sat there staring at the floor. 

They were quiet for awhile, just listening the rustling of leaves and watching the light from the moon catch the floating dust in their dance. 

“You goin to stay over Ymir?” Krista asked, breaking the silence.

“Huh? No, I was guna go home” the dark girl ran her hand through her hair, letting out a tired sigh.

“Well….we kind of….dropped your escape route” Krista glanced over at the girl, her long fingers still in her jet black hair. “What, I cant just let myself out?” At this Krista gasped “No! No way! They’ll definitely see you! If I could just go through the front door why do you think we went through all this trouble!?” 

Ymir shifted from her position against the wall, turning to sit and face Krista. “I thought you were just doing this to spend more time with me” She grinned. This made Krista blush heavily. “W-what, no! I just didn’t want to get caught” Ymir watched the girl squirm, she liked to tease her, Krista was very cute when she was being teased. 

“Relax short stuff. I have a crazy long walk home anyways. So, where’s the couch?” She stood, stretching out her long limbs. Krista couldn’t help but gawk, her tall dark companion looked breathtaking even when she stretched. 

“There is no couch..Um..we can share my bed” Ymir cocked an eyebrow and turned to face Krista “I-I mean its big enough for both of us! I just don’t want you sleeping on the floor because of me…you’ve been such a great help” 

“Oh man don’t look like such a kicked puppy. Its fine. I don’t have work till later anyways. Actually Im kinda glad—Im so tired, I don’t care where I just want to sleep”  
Krista felt terrible, she had caused this girl so much trouble, and she had only just met her! “Im sorry Ymir….” Her voice cracked, and she tried to fight the tears back but they came anyways. 

“Its not problem—woah! Jesus whats wrong! Krista?” She rushed over to the girl still hunched under the window sill, now sniffling quietly and crouched down in front of her. “Krista don’t cry. You're freaking me out” This only made Krista begin to sob harder. “I…Im…I’m Sorry” she sniffled “ Im causing you so much trouble…I must look like a total mess.”

“Oh…so that’s what you’re crying about” Ymir sighed in relief, and instead of risking saying anything dumb again the tall girl pulled Krista into her arms, stroking her hair gently. “Krista. Its fine. You are seriously weird. I told you, the walk home is long, so I’d actually rather stay here. Besides we’re friends now. So chill” Ymir’s knees were getting sore from crouching so she shifted to a sitting position, and pulled Krista onto her lap, keeping her hand in the girls long blonde hair. Krista felt soft against Ymir’s gangling build, and as the girl’s sobbing subsided Ymir concentrated on the feel of her silky hair between her fingers. She rested her chin on the girls head, hoping she wouldn’t mind, while Ymirs thoughts wandered back the conversation they heard below the window. 

Whoever gets to be with this girl really is lucky. Shes small, kind, with delicate features, a soft gaze, with a strong and dependable nature—plus she’s got a smile that could start wars. Ymir closed her eyes and rubbed her temples, there was no way her dark freckled self could be with this girl. For now she would settle for friendship. For now. 

“lets go to bed” Krista turned her bright blue eyes to gaze at her tall, rigid companion. She watched as Ymir opened her dusty brown eyes and looked down at her with a reluctant smile. She looked tired. “Okay” was all she said.

“I don’t think I have any pajamas that would fit you” Krista said through the crack in the door. She was in her walk in closet, changing out of Sasha's clothes. Ymir was sitting on the bed. “Nah, its cool. I usually sleep in my clothes anyways. Not all of us have an outfit for every occasion.”

Krisa could feel the tall girl’s smirk “Its not every occasion Ymir, its pajamas. Everyone has them. You’re just weird” 

“I sleep the way god intended!” Ymir laughed “naked!” Krista blushed from behind the door. Just seeing the girl in a leather jacket and mopping a floor with her made Krista nearly pass out, but seeing her naked? She wasn’t sure she could handle it. “Ymir! DON’T!”

Krista rushed out of the closet only to find Ymir sitting on the bed, just where she left her, smiling back at Krista. “What, cant handle a little nudity? We’re both girls after all” She knew Ymir was trying to push her buttons, but still… “I can! Its just…oh, whatever! Do what you want, lets just go to sleep” Krista huffed, pulling up the covers, desperate not to make eye contact with the coy brunette.

“Ha. You’re so easy to tease. I’ll stick with clothes thank you very much, you wouldn’t be able to handle this hot bod” she bragged jokingly. “Yep. I think I would just go up in flames” Krista quipped back, though not entirely joking. 

Ymir slipped under the covers and let out a tired sigh “mm s’nice. You got an awesome bed princess. Bet you’d die if you ever slept over my place” Krista pulled up the covers and turned to face her tall, dark and egotistic friend “Maybe I will. Just to prove you wrong”

Ymirs eyes went wide, but she caught herself “You’re on Princess, Ill take that as a challenge. Now, get to sleep. I don’t even know what you have planned for getting me out of here tomorrow when everyone is awake”

“oh it wont be an issue. Tomorrow everyone will be busy preparing for the celebration, and you are dressed like a staff member, so no one will notice you walk out. The night crew all know each other, that’s why we couldn’t risk it now, but tomorrow will be easy.” Krista smiled back at Ymir, confident in her answer and trying not to let her imagination get the best of her. Ymir really did look tempting, laying next to her, with her face so close and head against a pillow. 

She wasn’t sure why, but she knew at that moment, that people really look different when they are facing you from atop a pillow. With the waning night light reflecting in their eyes, the half smile partly hidden by the pillow, and the way they lay so vulnerable- it really seems as if the two who lay next to one another are the only ones left on earth. Krista had never lain next to anyone but her cousins, but she remembered the feeling of closeness she felt at that moment. Like she knew something about them that no one else did. Ymir was not acting any different, she was still teasing Krista, and she was talking normally, but for some reason Krista could not help but feel warm and content at seeing her normally tough and hard-lined friend lay down next to her. It was as though her smile was warmer, her words were deeper, and her cold affection warmed under a crackling fire.

Ymir gave an affirmative grunt and turned over, exposing her broad back, clothed in a now wrinkled white shirt, to Krista, which for some reason upon seeing it made the small blonde’s heart skip. After a moments silence Ymir grumbled a ‘thank you’ from under her blanket and told Krista that she was happy that she had decided to “ditch the dry heaves” and come hang out with her and her co workers and that she hoped that Krista had a good time. Upon hearing Ymir’s sudden tenderness, Krista reacted, for the second time that night, in a way that her heart had wanted; she snuggled up to Ymir's back, wrapped her arms around the girl and breathed “It was the best night of my life” into her shoulders before falling into a deep, content sleep.


	6. In the morning calls the birds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Another chapter. Ill try and update more regularly- sorry yo'

Morning came far too soon for the girls, as the sounds of gas powered garden equipment groaned to life outside, and the shouts of the morning landscapers echoed from their trucks soon woke them. Between the thousand birds that seemed to sing at the house that sat tucked away in field and Forrest, and the shuffling of the house servants outside Krista’s door, it it was Krista who first opened her eyes and realized with a start that she was not alone in her bed. Though her mind was foggy with sleep, she felt rested, and taking a deep breath Krista slid closer to her friend who was turned on her side, facing the wall.

Ymir’s hair was still tied neatly back with a red hair clip, she hardly seemed to have changed position during the night except that her shirt was off, probably thrown onto the floor, revealing a very toned and defined back. _So you don’t like to sleep with a shirt on, Ymir?_ Krista thought to herself, a smile breaking across her face at the idea that she had her hands on an intimate detail of her dark and standoffish friend.

Unlike Ymir, Krista tossed and turned relentlessly during sleep, her doctor said it was stress and that she should drink tea before going to bed, but Krista did not tell him that she did most of her moving while trying to fall asleep-not during her sleep.

It normally took her hours just to fall asleep, but last night was different; not only did she not move around as often as she is used to, but she did not wake up once during the night. The only reason Krista could attribute to her peaceful night’s slumber was the warm presence of Ymir, her steady breaths and the smell of sandalwood that came from Krista pressing her face to Ymir’s coffee colored back. One thing was for certain, Krista could get used to this. It was nice waking up to see Ymir there, her broad shoulders shielding Krista’s gentle blue eyes from the bright morning sun.

The small blonde blinked and pulled the blanket over her shoulders. She wanted to stay in bed like this all day, relaxing and lounging with Ymir, talking and falling in and out of lazy slumbers. Ymir’s shoulders would rise and fall with each breath she took, shifting the blanket that covered both her and Krista with each inhale. Krista held her breath to see if she could hear Ymir breathing; she let her mind wander to silly things like if Ymir had a raspy morning voice, or if she would mind if Krista had her hands around her like last night. She didn’t seem to mind when Krista cuddled up to her, but mornings are always different than nights.

Something about nights made things permissible, as if when the sons and daughters law social order, slept, tucking in early to rest for the morning commute that took them to marble floored offices and high rise organizations in fashionable downtowns, so too did some of the rules of social etiquette sleep with them. At night kisses were deeper, laughs were easier, and drinks were stronger. At night Ymir did not mind that Krista snuggled up to her back, or kissed her on the cheek, in fact she didn’t even say anything about either. But the morning? Would Ymir mind? Krista was not so sure. Just as Krista’s worry began to creep, dark haired girl stirred, grunted and turned over.

 Krista sucked in a breath as Ymir’s narrow, exotic looking eyes fluttered open. For a moment, neither of them moved. Ymir just stared, blankly at Krista whose eyes were wide with worry.

“what” Ymir yawned powerfully “what time is it?” the little blonde craned her head and glanced over Ymirs shoulder to the bedside table.

“7:15” She said, her blue eyes shining and alert, while Ymirs were clouded with sleep. Ymir simply grunted and began to turn to the wall again but was stopped by a small hand. “Uhm” Krista did not know what possessed her to stop Ymir at that moment but her action was met with a thunderous glare. “How did you sleep?” The small girl asked gently. Ymir looked either taken aback, or annoyed, of which one, Krista was unsure.

“Fine. In fact, I would like to continue sleeping” she replied curtly, and moved to turn over, but was stopped a second time “That’s good, Im glad. But I think we should get up soon if you want to be able to leave.” Krista put her hand over the curve of Ymir’s hip under the blanket and smiled nervously.

Ymir rolled her eyes “look Krista, Ive had about enough of this sneaking around game. I helped you out last night, but now Im going to go by my rules. I stayed up past 3am, and Ill be damned if I wake up any earlier than 10. Unlike you, princess, I have to go to work tonight, and Im not going to be miserable because I had to scramble out of your house at 7 in the morning so your pretty ass doesn’t get in trouble. You can figure out a plan, but Im sleeping until 10” Krista felt her heart jerk, guilt was rising in her chest and making her want to leap out of bed .

She took her hand off Ymir’s hip and held it close to her aching chest ,“You’re right Ymir. Im so sorry” Just like that Krista’s carefree morning crumbled under her feet. The dark and beautiful girl in front of her probably felt roped in by Krista’s home life and was irritated by the situation Krista forced her into. Krista felt Ymir slipping through her fingers, and all because she was too excited to be in the company of such a strange and beautiful person that she forgot all about her twisted home life, and unknowingly dragged the girl into a situation that she did not think through.

Ymir watched the pretty and delicate girl in front of her try to fight back tears. Fuck Ymir, cant you just get over your morning cup of total bitch and be nice to this one? She sighed and put a hand on her forehead in resignation. “Look, Krista, Im not mad. Im just tired. If you get caught with me in the room then it would be like all the trouble we went through was for nothing. Im just going to sleep some more and then we’ll get into costume, or whatever the fuck plan you have for getting me out of here without anyone noticing” Ymir yawned again, squeezing her eyes shut and adding to Krista’s list (unbeknownst to Ymir) another ‘cute thing’ the tall freckled girl does when her guard is down.

“So you’re not mad?” Krista asked sheepishly “No squirt. Im not mad” Ymir smiled back at the girl laying in front of her. It had been a long time since anyone let her in their bed, especially someone as pretty as Krista. “Now, you gunna let me sleep or what?”

“Of course! Ill sleep too. Im sorry, I just get anxious about my family sometimes” Krista started toying with the fabric of Ymir's pants that bunched up around her waist, cursing her inability to stay calm in situations that made her nervous. If only she was more like Ymir. “No shit. I’ve gotta say though, no girl I knew has ever made me climb through their window to avoid their parents” Ymir chuckled, pretending not to mind Krista’s affectionate way of kneading the fabric at her hips, which was making Ymir’s heart race.

“So a lot of girls have snuck you into their rooms?” Ymir forced out a laugh “W-well. I mean, friends. Girlfriends”

_Be cool Ymir_

“Girlfriends?”

_Nice going idiot_

“W-well no. Not exactly. It was never that serious”

“So are you interested in girls?” Krista knew this was a tough question and she felt bad for putting Ymir on the spot. But she really wanted to know. Really, really wanted to know. Ymir fudged for a moment before answering, she looked really uncomfortable and it made Krista's heart sink.

“Im sorry Ymir. You don’t have to answer that, Im not trying to pry or anything. Its just….well I wouldn’t judge you…no matter what your answer is. I hope you know that.” Krista smiled ruefully and put her hand on Ymirs shoulder. She felt the brunette go rigid with her touch.

“Look. I do what I want, okay? I live the way I want to live, I don’t really give a shit whether people are guys, girls, queer, trans—if I like them then that’s it. I promised myself I would live the way I want to live, and to go with whatever whims I had. That’s freedom, and it’s the only way I want to live my life.”

Ymir flopped over onto her stomach and buried her head in the pillow and revealing a freckled shoulders and a rippling muscles lined only by a black bra strap. What she had just said, it was the truth, and that speech for some reason really made people’s skin crawl. She only hoped Krista wouldn’t be one of those people.

“Ymir I think that’s wonderful. You’re so brave to live that way. I wish I could, but I have my family and they would never approve of it.”

“Approve of what?” It was muffled, Ymir’s face was still in the pillow, but there was a tone of unmistakable curiosity.

“Oh! U-uh. They wouldn’t approve of..of who I am.”

“And who is that?”

“W-well. Its. Its no one really” Krista was trying to look anywhere but at Ymir, she had only met this girl yesterday and was already having this talk. The talk that made her cousins stop sleeping in her room with her, the talk that made one of her maids quit. It shamed Krista, but Ymir lived her life so fiercely, she wanted to do the same. She wanted to do the same….but the words just wouldn’t come.

“Krista I just spilled my fucking guts to you, don’t you think it’s a little unfair to dodge a question like that?”

Krista took a deep breath, holding her hands to her chest, this was it, she was going to tell her first friend her biggest secret.

“Okay. Well since I was little I have….never really been interested in boys. Not, romantically anyway.”

Ymir flipped over, facing the ceiling and covering her mouth- trying hard to quiet her laughter “Is that all? Jesus. I thought you were going to say you were a werewolf with the way you were tensing up” She stifled a snort hit the bed with her fist. She was enjoying this a little too much.

“It is a big deal! Ymir! How can you be so mean!” Krista huffed.

“Listen Shorty- You’re fucking gay, so what? Just cuz you’re family thinks it would be a big deal doesn’t mean it is. For fuck’s sake, my family thinks St. Patrick’s day is a big deal, but that’s just cuz they’re fucking alcoholics! Ha. You’re too funny Krista, Im dying over here!”

Krista waited for Ymir's laughter to subside, before asking Ymir about her family, making the girls smile disappear almost instantly. “Don’t ask me about my family. I haven’t seen them in years and lets leave it at that, alright?” Her face took on a darkness, clouded eyes and curled lips.

“I'm sorry Ymir. I didn’t mean to upset you” “Yeah well, you seem to have a talent for getting people to talk about shit they don’t want to” “Im really sorry.”

“Eh. Don’t be. Honestly I don’t care, so on top of being Spiderman, you are also Wonder Woman with that truth lasso or whatever. She had a lasso, but you just have those big blue eyes. No one in their right mind could lie to those and live with it.” Ymir let out a chuckle from deep in her chest, it reminded Krista of cinnamon, she could almost smell the warmth, wafting into an autumn evening.

“Well. Im not tired anymore, so what the plan Princess?” Ymir turned over to face Krista, and let loose a long toe curling stretch, showing her toned arms and exposing a surprisingly elegant nape to a blushing Krista.

“Like I said, we are preparing for another event tonight, so if you just wear your uniform out then I doubt anyone would notice” Ymir thought this over for a moment, but before she could speak there was a knocking at Krista’s door. Krista froze in fear, feeling an icy panic run up her spine.

She shot Ymir a look and was surprised to see the girl leap from the bed and dash to the closet in a whirl dark limbs and darker hair. Krista smiled to herself, she would have to thank her hero later.

 “Krista its Alana, your parents are expecting you at breakfast” Alana was one of the families older maids, she had been around ever since Krista could walk. Krista moved to open the door a crack “thank you Alana, tell father I will be down in a moment”

“ Of course, I will alert them--may I come in for a moment?” “Uh you may, but I am not decent, perhaps you can come by after I go down to breakfast?” Krista asked shakily.

“Oh don’t be silly Krista! I have never known you to be shy around me. Now, let me help you tidy up” The older woman pushed past Krista and surveyed the room, clothes strewn around the floor. Her eyes immediately fell on Ymir’s button down shirt, laying on the floor next to the bed.

“I don’t remember buying you that shirt Krista” she said suspiciously “is that your shirt?”

“Oh no, it is Jean’s. He lent it to me last night as we left the restaurant, he said I looked cold and that I could give it back to him this evening”

“He gave you the shirt off his back? Why not his jacket! What a silly boy!” the older woman laughed “I suppose he wanted to impress you, oh dear, what a gentleman. You truly are a lucky girl!”

“Indeed I am, Miss Alana.” Krista replied, knowing that her dark haired friend could hear everything they said. The older woman milled about the room, folding clothes and dusting surfaces. Krista watched in anxious terror each time the woman neared the closet where Ymir was hiding.

“Oh! I almost forgot, Krista I’ll take your dress to be cleaned and—"

“NO” Krista panicked, her dress was hanging in the closet and she could not let the woman near it. The woman immediately turned to her, shocked at her outburst “Krista, Im only going to clean it! I will ask them to take extra care, I know your dear auntie gave it to you, and that you would be beside yourself if anything should happen to it. Don’t worry, Ill see that it is treated with utmost delicacy!” She smiled happily and moved towards the closet. Krista dashed to the closet but was too late, the older woman had opened the door and gasped at what she saw. “Krista this is an absolute mess! I could just die, right here! Such a proper girl should not keep her things in such disarray, why, think of when you marry Jean! You cannot let his things fall into such a sty!”

The woman sifted through the things on the floor and placing them on hangers. Krista let out a breath of relief, Ymir had pulled the clothes down on top of herself, but she would not remain hidden for long. Krista pulled the woman’s collar and shoved her out of the room “Miss Alana, I will see to it that my room is clean before breakfast, now please, attend to your other duties!”

Ymir’s heart was pounding, she had almost been found out. Normally, she wouldn’t care and would have either left right out the front door, or leapt at the woman’s throat. She knew how worried Krista was, and she could not bring herself to upset her. If she was found, Krista would be crushed. She waited for Krista to come and open the closet door and when she did, tears were streaming down her face. “Ymir Im so sorry. Im just so sorry about all of this”

Ymir stood, revealing her exposed front to Krista, luckily she had not taken her bra off, but Krista’s gaze skated over Ymir’s collarbone and defined abdominal, making the freckled girl blush. She moved to Krista and embraced the crying girl, “Hey hey, relax. Honestly this is the most fun I’ve had in awhile. Now, lets get the fuck out of here before you have a heart attack” she chuckled Krista sniffled and nodded, gripping her tall friends shirt and burying her face in the girls lean body. “Good” Ymir whispered, pressing her lips to the girls hair and inhaling. She was soft, so soft she thought she would melt. _No. This is dangerous_

Ymir pulled herself from Krista's small body and grabbed her shirt from the bed, now neatly folded courtesy of a very nosy maid. She threw the shirt on and began buttoning it when Krista hurried over and grabbed the fabric “let me” she said softly, too embarrassed to meet Ymir’s eyes. Ymirs body heated up, watching the small girl button her shirt. She could feel her breath on her chest and it was driving her wild. She wanted to push the small blonde on the bed and cover the girl in her mark, but she didn’t dare. There was no way that Ymir could spoil the angelic girl. Ymir was a shitty person, and even though Krista was gay, she couldn’t think that Krista’s eyes would ever look at Ymir the way she wished she would.

“So, getting married huh?” Ymir asked nonchalantly as Krista neared her top button, her face getting closer and closer.

“Jean is the son of my fathers business partner. And yes, that’s the plan”Ymir watched as Krista went from sunshine to a deflated, gloomy grey.

“Huh, I thought arranged marriages didn’t happen here anymore” “They do” Krista sighed “there. All done” She forced a smile up at Ymir, the taller girl rubbed the back of her head and looked away.

“You don’t want to though, I mean, you're gay, right?” Krista nodded “Well yeah, but that doesn’t matter. Father always gets what he wants” Ymir felt a familiear rage boil in the back of her throat.

“That’s bullshit. You shouldn’t let anyone control your life like that.” She spat.

“Ymir, its sweet of you to be upset for me, but I came to terms with this a long time ago. I’ll never find happiness in love, but there are lots of other ways to be happy” Krista’s smile was breaking Ymir's heart, for the first time in years Ymir felt the sting of helplessness, like watching a friend drown in violent waves while she watched from the shore. She couldn’t stand it. She wanted to do something. No, she had to do something for her. But what could she possibly do?

“Are you going to give up, just like that?” Ymir pressed

“Ymir. Its not that easy. Maybe you can live your life at your own whims, but I cant. Please try to understand that” Krista's bright blue eyes went cold and she moved to open her door “I’ll show you out.” she said curtly.

Ymir grunted and followed Krista out the door and along the winding halls. “Once you reach the gates, take a left and follow the road, after a mile or two you’ll reach a bus stop on your left. It’s the 50A bus, it should take you to your stop” Krista’s voice was still cold, and Ymir began to wonder if this was the last time they would see eachother—perhaps she had really crossed a line back there…

Ymir thanked her and just before she left she whirled around to face the small blonde “wait. How did you know which bus stop is mine?” Krista giggled “I’ve seen you on the bus before. Ive been watching you for awhile. Now go, before someone notices. I’ll call you later” she winked and disappeared through the door. Ymirs heart was hammering in her chest. Could it be? Krista was watching her too? Ymir quickly brushed away the thoughts, thinking that there was no way that a pretty girl like Krista would be interested in the likes of her. The morning sun was beating down on the road as Ymir walked, kicking up stray rocks as was her habit when she dragged her feet with altering steps.

However, as followed the long road to the bus, Ymir could not help but walk with a skip in her step as she entertained the happy thoughts of _what if._


	7. An Invitation and a Chair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I AM ALIVE. and I am a jerk, sorry for looong waits. Im back tho' thanks for the support e'er body! This is such an awesome community. Comments and critique always always welcome.

Ymir walked through the double doors, occupied with tying her apron she was unaware that the whole kitchen was gathered by her station, arms crossed and shit eating grins on their faces. She looked up when she heard a snicker coming from Sasha, stopping dead in her tracks she narrowed her eyes “what the fuck are you assholes doing?”  
Reiner shot her a knowing look and nudged Bertholt, his mild mannered titan crush who chuckled too. Annie and Levi were trying to conceal a hint of interest in their half lidded, bored looking eyes.

“Out with it” Ymir snarled.   
Sasha slapped Connie on the shoulders “Ohhh Ymir, you’re soooo tall!” she mocked in a high pitched voice. Connie cackled, “Well babe, care to enjoy the view ?” He said, in a smoky voice, flicking imaginary hair out of his eyes.   
“That sounds amazing, amazing! How do I do that?” Sasha asked batting her eyes at Ymir. Connie elbowed Sasha playfully “Easy” he said, taking on Ymir’s mischievous grin “just gotta take off your pants and I’ll take care of the rest.” Connie snapped his fingers and lifted Sasha up until her chest was level with his eyes. 

Sasha and Connie exchanged glances and burst into laughter, the rest of the room following. Reiner had doubled over and recovered long enough to join in “Oh Ymir! You’re so fresh! Making me blush!” in the closest thing his big dumb meaty voice could get to Krista’s high pitched tone.

“BAAAHAHAHAH” the whole kitchen roared with laughter, holding their stomachs and stomping their feet.

Ymir rolled her eyes “shouldn’t you assholes be working?”

Sasha, eyes wide as plates jumped at Ymir “No, no! not until you tell us what happened with that Krista girl!”

“What the fuck do you mean ‘what happened’?” Ymir spat, trying in vain to push past the group.

“Don’t play dumb Ymir. You guys were practically dry humping when you were mopping, she sat on your lap the whole drive over, and you were hanging all over each other the entire party- and then you guys just disappeared!”

Armin popped his head in, cheerily proclaiming “very suspicious!”

Ymir was caught off guard, she didn’t really think about how they were acting around eachother last night, let alone realize they were being watched. 

“AND! Your roommate said you didn’t come home last night” Connie added, practically drooling. Did Jesus feel like this at the cross? Christ. There was no winning with these people.

“Since when do you talk to my fucking roommate Connie?” Ymir said, trying to hide her exasperation. She was not supposed to get exposed like this. It was going to be a slow build, everyone seemed to know her feelings before she did, and Ymir hated it.

“Ymir, I call your roommate all the time, when you’re late for work” Reiner rolled his eyes “you make it too easy.”

Ymir stood her ground but couldn’t think of a word to say. The group looked on with hungry eyes.

“We finger-banged, scissored, forked, spooned, knived, ate each other Out, ate each other In,” she was counting things on her fingers “oh and we recruited every other straight blonde girl in the western hemisphere to the homosexual agenda. All before bedtime” Ymir smirked.

Her dodge was met with a flurry of groans and questions. 

“Oh C’mon Ymir!”

“Which one was it!?”

“Was Krista good at going down?”

“What’s scissoring?”

“There’s an agenda!!? I knew it!” Some idiot yelled.

“Oh please, don’t be stupid, where would they hold meetings, the fucking YMCA?” A less idiotic person replied.

Ymir laughed at Sasha's comment “Sasha, scissoring is what people think—“

“Alright! “ Reiner cut her off, “That’s enough get back to work everyone. We’ve tortured Ymir enough…for now”

“Whats wrong Reiner, we getting too close to the truth about the homosexual agenda? You might lose your post as its Admiral of the Gavy” Someone chimed in from the back.  
“Gavy?” another asked.

“Gay navy. C’mon, that was gold.”

Reiner had his head in his hands, just who the hell was he working with here, the lollipop guild? How can so many people know so little about ‘The Gays’? Oh well. Laugh about it later, now was the time for some good ol’ rage bossin’. 

“Ymir Get your ass to the machine.”

“Uh Yah, that was the plan Reiner, but you guys ambushed me with retard grenades.”

“Don’t say ‘retard’” he shot her a glance, the crowd was thinning out, returning to their work stations. 

“Fine, a double fuck off barrel bomb.”

“…better.” Reiner relented “but you’re still not funny, Ymir. Get to work.” 

Ymir sighed. That was not how she wanted to start work. But still, memories from the night before kept her smiling throughout her shift. 

“Ymir!! You lose, your turn!” Reiner yelled, red faced and smiling. He was about four drinks deep, not drunk, but not sober either. That guy is what they build tanks out of.  
“Fine. What song?” They had been playing drinking game, Ymir was the last person to throw a card down so she had stand up and do whatever the winner dared her to. They made sure to keep the rules PG, since the last party they had ended in less than fortunate situations. 

Bertholt whispered something in his hear, making Reiner's big meaty face light up in amusement “oh yeah that’s good, Bert” he whispered back.

“Alright!” he slammed his fist on the table “No song. This time, the loser is a chair!” he yelled happily.

There was a silence, the group looked at each other in confusion. Eren asked Reiner how many drinks he had and if he was alright.

“The loser is a chair?” Ymir scoffed “You’re done Braun, go take a nap” she laughed.

“Shaddup! None of you let me finish. Ymir, for the next round you will act as a chair for” he paused, looking around the room, really milking it, trying to pretend like he hadn’t already picked out who he wanted to torture Ymir.

“for the next round you will act as a chair for Krista and Sasha!”

“What!”

“On your hands and knees, peasant! Ladies, your chariot awaits” Reiner smiled congenially.

“Reiner-“

“I said on your knees!” he bellowed, laughing. Sasha, all to eager, jumped up, crossing the room to pull Krista up, whispering to her “don’t worry, Ymir acts all kinds of mad, but she’s really havin’ fun” 

Krista smiled as Ymir grunted and got down on all fours. 

“This is ridiculous” she muttered to the room. Mostly for show.

Krista looked down at her, attempting to get permission through eye contact but Ymir wouldn’t face them, she was glaring at a very satisfied Reiner across the room.  
“Sorry about this Ymir” Krista said.

“Im not!” Sasha added. The two sat on Ymir’s back for the next fifteen minutes. Ymir, the Persian chair, would occasionally shout comments at Sasha, telling her to lay off the landfill sized amount of food she apparently ate, according to Ymir’s insults, but she made sure never once to mention Krista in her insults. She didn’t know her that well and wasn’t sure if she could take a joke like that. Either way, Krista was good natured about it, so was Sasha, and it was pretty fun, Ymir had to admit. 

Not to mention that she did notice that Krista’s gingerly toyed with Ymir’s hair the entire time, it was very…sweet. Ymir had to resist the urge to lean into Krista's soft hand. She wanted to give her encouragement, but moving would be too obvious- the whole room could see them, so she settled for keeping her shoulders steady while she slowly slid her ass down, making Sasha topple over more than once. 

Ymir did not know this, but the gestures were not lost on Krista, who found it endlessly cute and simple minded, but still, knowing that she was the favorite of the chair was nice. The fact that the chair-er, Ymir, went out of her way to show this to Krista, all the while doing it in a way that everyone just thought it was Ymir joking around with Sasha. It was sweet, so she scratched behind Ymir's ears and squeezed her shoulder every time she successfully toppled Sasha.

Ymir did not realize that Krista was communicating with her via ear scratches and shoulder squeezes mainly because her back and abs were on fire, and she was using all her energy to avoid a spinal meltdown. But she did like the feeling of Krista's hands on her, and of course her ass on her back. In fact, Krista could put her ass just about anywhere and Ymir would be pretty damn pleased.

The best part, however, was getting Reiner to be the table, he had to be in crab position for over an hour. He almost cried, it was excellent. 

 

 

With only about an hour left of work she felt her phone buzz in her pocket, wet from the dishwasher. It was exactly who she hoped it would be. 

Krista: Hey Ymir, did you get home okay?

Ymir: yup you gve good direction

Ymir was never the one to give a shit about grammar or spelling in her texts. They were supposed to be quick, and she wasn’t about to go all the way back and fix the dumb mistakes—most of the time people knew what she meant to say, so it didn’t matter. Krista's were perfect of course, capitals placed where they should be, even grammar- I mean goddamn, she's even prim and proper in private text messages! Does she ever put down her guard? All the more reason for Ymir to not give a fuck. Maybe Krista would get the idea.

Krista: Thanks! I try. I was wondering, what are you doing this weekend?

Ymir: nthin’ why

Krista: Well my parents are having this yacht party and they said I could bring a friend! Want to come?

Ymir: sure

Krista: Yay!! Im so glad. Okay but there’s one catch, its formal wear so ill pick you up from work tomorrow and we’ll have to get you something nice to wear.

Ymir: K. out at 5 tmrw

Krista: See you then! 

Huhn. Well how ‘bout that. Ymir had some questions, but they were the kind of questions that burned, but if you looked hard enough you could see the answer yourself. Why was she taking Ymir, and not Jean to the Yacht party? Duh, that one was easy, Jean is part of an arranged marriage, yet another nail in the coffin that would soon lay to rest Krista’s happiness. 

But why did she invite Ymir, and not her other friends. Did she have any? She must, she’s such a bright, sun-shiny girl. Ymir could never ask that, so, she’d just have to watch Krista for her answer. 

She was looking forward to tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I first wrote "Fingerbanged" but there was a spell check for both "finger banged" and "finger-banged" BUT! fun fact, there was no spell check for "good natured"
> 
> lolololol. I find this like, I duno, a whole soup can of funny.


	8. The Pauper made Prince

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shoppin! Well sort of

 

For the first time in years, Ymir woke up feeling excited to go to work. Of course work meant money, yeah, but the end of work meant she got to see Krista. She hummed all the way over, turning the volume up on her earphones as loud as they could go. She listened to The Queers, her favorite skate punk band, man, nothing could get in her way.

Except dishes.

The dishes that afternoon were endless. Reiner and Berthold thought up yet another selection of courses that practically ruined the dishes. Ymir had to use all the strength she possessed to scrap off the cheese that seemed to form some kind of prehistoric amber stalagmites that dripped down the edges of the plate. It took just short of a drill to get that shit off.

She went to the bathroom to change, noticing her hands, swollen and water logged from hours of work and cringed. She never cared what her hands looked like before, but suddenly, with the thought of Krista even being close to her, it was like every detail was magnified and could mean the difference between Krista laughing happily at her jokes or throwing her out of the car and into oncoming traffic.

She really hoped that Krista wouldn’t care.

Ymir calmed herself and walked out the back to wait for Krista. When Krista rolled up she saw Ymir leaning against a wall, long figure slanted and neck craned to the side, looking quite picturesque as she listen to whatever was playing on her headphones.

“Hey” she called.

“Hey” Ymir said back, taking her headphones off and ducking into the car.

Krista shifted gears and drove off while Ymir stared out the window.

“How was work?” Krista asked, eyes trained on the road.

“Sucks, but that’s just  work. How was your party?“

“For a party I didn’t want to attend, I would like to say that it wasn’t bad, but then I would be lying. I hated it.”

Ymir snorted “Sounds about right. If these partys are so shitty, then why are you dragging me along? Is it to keep you company or to piss off your parents?”

Krista considered it for a moment, and looked over at Ymir who seemed so satisfied with herself that the small blonde could not help but laugh.

“I thought we could keep each other company” she said helpfully.

The freckled girl rolled her eyes “Oh isn’t that sweet. Using someone for company and then trying to pass it off like you’re doing them a favor. Sorry, but that’s not going to work on me. Just tell me truth, Im not guna bite your head off.”

Krista paused, not even realizing what she had said came off that way. She was just talking in the way she had learned to speak at home, and the way her tutor had showed her.

_Always hide your intentions- when people know what you want, that is when they have power over you._

“I wanted you to come because I like spending time with you.”

Ymir perked up in the passengers side “That’s a good girl. See? The truth wasn’t so hard now, was it?”

“I suppose so” Krista mumbled. The rest of the ride was spent in silence, the two of them lost in thought as the radio hummed softly.

Ymir smiled happily leaning her head against the window and tapping her foot to the beats heard over the radio. She didn’t even care that it was a shitty pop station playing, she just felt happy. When Krista took a moment to steal a glance, she saw the tanned girl dark hair hiding her eyes but not her smile.

Krista turned into the parking lot of the biggest mall in the area, stealing a glance at Ymir, who was picking at her fingernails idly.

Maybe she didn’t have to be so afraid.

“Jesus Christ, the mall?” Ymir groaned “ I hate the mall, Krista”

“I figured you would. Now lets go, we just have to get one outfit then we can leave.”

The walk from the parking lot was spent trying to keep Ymir from turning around. It didn’t take much convincing, only a bribe of a meal afterwards, to get the lanky girl to stop dragging her feet. It was funny, watching the tall, proud woman who once glided across floors hunch her shoulders and dangle her arms like a marionette. A marionette with a scowl painted on.

“You promise?”  
“Yes”

“It has to be Mexican. And I want a beer too.”  
“Fine.”

“Make that two beers.”

“Deal. Anything else?”

“Uh yeah, uhm, a tequila shot”

“Okay, anything else?”

  
“Uh….”

  
“Wow. You’re easy to please."

“What can I say. I’ve never had a rich friend. This deal is at least 200% more than what I get from my broke ass friends”

“I see” Krista laughed lightly at Ymir’s inability to bargain.

As they walked through the white floored mall, with its artificially clean air, glass ceilings and open floor plan, Ymir could not help but feel uncomfortable. Malls were a painting, a recurring theme, whether it be nightmare or point of pride, it was when walking through a mall that something became painfully clear—she was an outsider and always would be.

Not because malls are evil or anything like that, it just seemed like as if she was left out, malls had clothes for every type of person it seemed, except her. The fact that she only liked a shirt or two in every store, and when she tried it on she felt either too big, too skinny, or too dark only served to infuriate her.

“So why do you hate malls?” Krista asked, trying to make conversation, though she had an idea what her friends reason was.

“I just do.”

  
“Hate is a strong word.” Krista touched Ymir's arm gently.

“You hate your family.”  Ymir huffed. 

“Okay,  how about this: hate is a strong word to use when you have no reason.” Krista corrected

“You don’t make things easy do you? Well alright. I hate malls because they make me feel like I’m a freak.”

Krista was “ freak? Ymir why would you ever feel like that“

“Don’t play dumb. I'm a fucking weirdo but 'Im proud of it. Until I get here I guess. Its like, ah fuck, how do I explain…”

Krista knew exactly what she was talking about and felt for the girls long slender fingers, intertwining them with her own, suddenly she felt grounded, and safe, thought she felt the tall girls step fumble but she quickly caught herself.

“Its like this place smothers you with expectations.” Krista said numbly, looking at the bright white reflective marbled tiles as they walked.

“Yeah...exactly.” Ymir felt  the girls hand and looked down to see the top of the girls head, blonde hair swaying as she walked. Her hands felt small in hers.

“And as if they are giving a big ‘Fuck you, just fit in, it’s easy,’ they have about  a thousand stores and none of ‘em have stuff that will look hot on tall, dark and bony women.” Ymir laughed.

A thin group of teenagers with over-sized shopping bags walked by, followed by a young couple chatting idly. “You’re not bony, I think the word you are looking for is lean” Krista offered.

“Yah, I guess you’re right short stuff” she replied, scratching the back of her head, continuing on to say “Must be all the clean air and the bright lights, feels like you were walking around naked and someone suddenly turned the lights on. Hah. But they aren’t real lights, they’re like fun house lights- none of the nasty stuff you think about yourself here is true.”

“You walk around naked a lot?” Krista joked, smiling up at her.

“Maybe. Why, does it interest you?” Ymir smirked. She always had something to say back.

“Maybe. Does that interest you?” Krista hugged Ymir’s long arm as they walked, leaning on the darker girl felt good, she was sturdy, and there was no need to worry about knocking her off balance or slowing her down as she pushed against her.

“Ho ho! Princess got a bite now, huh? Listen Krista, you can’t handle what interests me.”

“Try me.” She gave the girls freckled arm a squeeze.

Ymir glance down at her, uncertainty clouded her face, but before she could think to say anything a stout woman came rushing toward them.

“Miss Reiss! Welcome! Your mother told us you would be coming by this afternoon.”

Damn! What timing! Oh well.

“Good afternoon Mrs. Hiazr, it’s a pleasure to see you again. This is Ymir, my closest friend.” Krista said, voice dripping with poise.

Ymir quirked an eyebrow at that last phrase, but decided to let Krista do her thing.

Ymir felt Krista’s grip loosen as she was pulled into an opulent store, complete with black marbled floors, silk covered couches and gilded, crystalline light fixtures.

Krista suddenly pulled Ymir down to whisper in her ear as they followed the stout woman to the back of the store.

“Ymir, please be nice to Mrs. Hiazr. She can come on strong, but she’s really sincere and she cares about me, so please, please, be nice?”

“Woah, alright alright, geez Krista, I'm not a monster you know. I only hate people that are dumb asses.”

Krista furrowed her brows but decided that was the best answer she was going to get and continued to pull the girl to the clothing racks. Ymir was happy to be led, but soon discovered she was in over her head. Goddamnit, Krista better appreciate this, she better get a big ‘ol beer as soon as they're out of here.

 

She watched as Krista and the stout, sandy haired Mrs. Hiazr chatted away, and was eventually led to a seat by a changing room. The woman began tossing dresses at Krista who seemed to catch, comment, and either throw back or set down on a table in stride. It was a whirlwind, and before she knew it they were both on her, throwing clothes at her at equal speed, she managed to catch all of them in a mountain on her arms, but figuring out what was happening proved to be too much.

“Ymir, I think you would feel more comfortable in a suit, although I really would like to see you in a dress…” Krista held her hands together pleadingly and searched the brunettes bewildered face for permission.

“Wha? Krista I don’t even-“  
“Great! Try these on first, and then Ill have Mrs. Hiazr find a dress that would suit you.”

“Krista I-“

“I'm so excited to see these on you!” With that Krista trotted off, leaving Ymir in a red velvet changing room, wondering what the hell just happened. There was a black suit hanging on the wall, with three different colored button down shirts,  and a white tie to complete the look.

“Jesus” she mumbled to herself, thinking that  Krista hated her life, but it seemed she was enjoying herself here. Whether it was because she could play dress up with Ymir, or because she liked dresses she could not be certain.

 

Meanwhile, at the other side of the store, Krista and the dressmaker, Mrs. Hiazr were chatting as was their routine, through the curtains while Krista changed into a dress picked especially for her.

“I must say, I have never seen you so excited, Miss Reiss. Its good to see you with a smile on your face, it must be your friend’s doing.” Mrs Hiazr said gleefully through the curtains.

“She’s wonderful, Mrs. Hiazr, she really is. She can be curt, and always seems irritated, but I know that she cares about me because, well, the other night she helped me sneak into my room in the middle of the night, she got the ladder out and even un-jammed my window for me!  Then..” Krista paused as a blush swept across her face,  “she slept there with me.”

“Miss Reiss! You don’t mean—“

“No no! Not like that, she didn’t do anything, she was a perfect gentlemen. Im not even sure she likes me in that way, but then she came to the mall with me, and told me she felt uncomfortable in malls but came with me anyway.”

“That’s more than my old boyfriends did for me!” Mrs. Hiazr gave a good natured, although indignant sigh. “She sounds very sweet Miss Reiss, Im  truly happy that you have such a good….friend” The stout dressmaker smiled to herself, she knew damn well Ymir may be a friend to Krista now, but it would not be long before they were more than that.

“She is! A bit rough around the edges, but when she’s trying to be nice its almost like she doesn’t know how, but yet she makes an effort for me—I think its just so cute!” Krista hugged herself and giggled but soon realized she had been babbling to Mrs. Hiazr this whole time

“Look at me, babbling to you like this, I'm sorry”  Krista cast her eyes down, feeling a rush of guilt.

“Not at all Miss Reiss. Why, I'm honored that I can be your confidant, and, I will say, your friend is quite…dashing.”

“I'm happy you think that way Mrs. Hiazr!” Krista called through the curtain, wrestling with the top part of her dress.

“I would never doubt your judge of character Miss Reiss. After all, though I do love your family, you have always been my favorite, like a second daughter to me through the years.”

“Thank you Mrs. Hiazr. You have always been like a mother to me as well.”

 “Oh Miss Reiss, you flatter me. Now, come out and show me how that looks.”

Krista stepped out in a sleeveless red dress that left her shoulders bare and had a deep dip down the back, exposing the curve of her spine and the swell of her breasts in the front. It fit her perfectly, with ruffles down the left side that flourished and grew as it neared her ankles, giving her an air of sultry nights spent among fine red wines, thick necked guitars, silver trimmed percussion and a dancefloor crowded with trim tanned dancers, under a midsummer’s moon in Madrid.

“Oh my. How beautiful, Miss Reiss you look stunning!  Come, come! Lets go show your friend”

 _This should be interesting_ the woman thought to herself.

“Oh, wait let me change out—“

“No no, I wouldn’t hear of it, we have to see if the two of you match, you’re going to a dance after all and I would hope that you would be on each other’s arms the whole night so you must match!”

She dragged Krista to Ymir’s room, where she could be heard cussing over the tie. Krista giggled at the sound and ruffle of the curtain, picturing the brunette struggling with unfamiliar clothes.

“Ymir, are you okay in there?” Krista called, barely suppressing laughter.

“Im fine, damnit” She cursed back, to the ‘Oh my’ of Mrs. Hiazr.

The curtain moved revealing Ymir standing tall and straight in a jet black suit with a fiery red shirt and a thin white tie in the center. She adjusted her jacket and looked up to see Krista, standing with her hands over her mouth and a blush that went all the way to her ears.

Time seemed to pause as the two looked at each other, stunned. Krista was beautiful, the curve of her neck joined her soft porcelain shoulders, her nape framed by a carefully placed pear necklace adding an air of delicate grace.  Her  dress accented the swell of her hips and the faint lines of muscle down her calves, red heels angling the bones of her ankles.

“Holy shit” Ymir said under her breath.

“I could say the same” Krista said back, blankly. Ymir’s frame looked strong and athletic as the jacket pulled her broad shoulders fluidly to her thin center, giving her a suave and confident posture. The pants, crisp and ironed led down her long legs and into a pair of black polished shoes. The red shirt made her seem bold and daring, and lit her tan, angular face and strong jaw. Her brown hair, tied back in the red hair clip completed the look, she looked princely, and dashing.

Mrs. Hiazr watched the two, realizing suddenly that the way they were looking at each other resembled the way a bride and groom , that had come in that morning, had done. Eyes full of fire and wanting.

Well this is an interesting development’ she smiled to herself, and for the first time, felt a swell of pride and happiness for Krista, the girl she saw grow up in such a hurtful home. The tanned girl looked strong, like she could take care of Krista, before she could never imagine a suitable partner for Krista, one that could make her happy while having the power to join her in fighting off her family, but now, it seemed this was the perfect match.

“Oh aren’t you two just a perfect couple!” She chirped.

The two froze, forgetting the presence of Mrs. Hiazr and jumped to her direction.

“Thank you Mrs. Hiazr,” Krista had regained her composure while Ymir looked on stunned.

“Ah- we- we aren’t a couple” She said lamely

“Of course you aren’t, you misunderstand, I only meant as a pair, you know, matching!” That was a close one. Mrs. Hiazr had been around  the block a few times, she was no idiot. It was pretty clear that the two girls had feelings for each other, their eyes said it all. Ymir’s dark and fiery, Krista’s bright blue and hopeful.

She hurried to adjust Ymir's jacket as Krista watched on, Ymir, lifting her arms regarding Mrs. Hiazr the way a tourist would after seeing a small monkey crawl up their person for the first time- amused and bewildered.

“Arent you just the handsomest Ymir, your skin is perfect for this red, and you have such a nice figure!”

“Uh. Thanks. I guess” She said dumbly

Mrs. Hiazr straightened up and cupped Ymirs face in her hands “ Now Ymir, I can see you aren’t used to this sort of thing, but you really should understand this: you’re quite beautiful, you know, and don’t be afraid to take a compliment!”

Ymir's eyes were wide “Right. Yeah. Okay” she looked over at Krista who gestured at her encouragingly “Thanks. Mrs Hiazr, that’s uh, nice of you to say”

The hands on her face stayed, as Mrs. Hiazr paused, looking into the girls dark brown eyes, holding steady, though nervous, under her scrutiny. And suddenly she released Ymir’s face, the face that would soon belong to her sweet Krista, and patted the handsome girl on the shoulders.

“Good!” she smiled “Miss Reiss, you sure know how to pick them. Why, if I was twenty years younger I would—“

“Mrs. Hiazr! Geez!” Krista said exasperated, approaching her and placing herself  between Mrs. hiazr and Ymir. Touching the tall girls chest gently to push her a few steps away from the fussing woman.

“Oh Im only playing Miss Reiss” she laughed “now lets get you both out of those outfits and out the door, Ill put the purchase on the Reiss tab, as always” she pushed Ymir back into the dressing room, and winked at her, causing the tall girl to stammer a bit before disappearing behind the curtain.

“Oh! You know what, I have to see to another customer, I’ll only be but a minute, Ymir, would you be a dear and help Miss Reiss out of her dress? Thanks!” Ymir watched horrified as the woman sped off behind a corner. Mrs Hiazr fell into a fit of giddiness when she reached her office in the back of the store

_I have never felt I could do anything to help that poor child, but maybe this can count as my good deed?_

Krista and Ymir stood frozen, unable to look at each other until, Krista, in a moment of daring, moved behind the curtain and stodd facing her tall friend, now handsomely dressed in a black tux, staring down at her with helpless pleading eyes.

“Uh Krista, Im not really sure how to help with this”

Krista felt a rush of warmth at Ymir’s bashfulness. “Don’t worry, its easy, just unzip the back and hold up the dress while I step out.”

“Okay” Ymir said, barely audible. “Oh fuck wait, let me take my tie off, its fucking choking the hell out of me.” Ymir’s hand moved to the knot of the tie but she stopped as Krista whirled around, placing her hand on hers “no, let me. Its easier if I help.”

“Oh yeah. Right” Ymir said, dazed. Watching Krista’s small hands deftly maneuver the tie out of its knot, she couldn’t help but admire her soft blonde hair, and the way her eye lashes seemed to brush against her check from this angle. “Ha. It took me like ten minutes to get this damn thing tied, and in 3 seconds you have it—“ the brunette was cut off as she felt the small blonde pause. It was as if there world outside stood still as Krista pulled on the tie still wrapped around Ymirs neck, bringing the taller girl to stoop down to her level, her blue eyes were searching for something in Ymir's deep browns.

“Ymir” Krista said softly, closing the distance between the two, and, before Ymir could react, Krista’s soft lips were pressed against her own. The small blonde smelled so sweet, the brunette’s heart was pounding, she couldn’t think, she only knew she wanted more. Wrapping her arms around Krista’s small waist she pulled her closer, feeling the blondes hands move to caress her face and slide through her hair. A small moan escaped the smaller girls mouth and she let her body press against Ymir’s lean figure, loving the feeling of being encircled by her. Waves of heat and desire were welling up inside her and she knew she had to pull away, but not before she felt Ymir’s tongue slip inside her mouth.

Their hands began to roam up and down each other sides until finally Krista pulled away, breathless. Ymir still had her arms around her, it made her feel safe and she leaned into the taller girls chest, sighing happily.

“Krista… I-”

“Shh” Krista said into the fabric of Ymir’s shirt “Can we just, stay like this for a second?”

Ymir smiled, wide and happy, and gripped the girl tighter, relishing the feeling of her body against her own, and rested her head on top of Krista’s, “Yeah” she whispered.

They broke apart and exchanged shaky but happy smiles. The air around  them felt different somehow, colors more vibrant and a warmer temperate than before. Krista placed a hand gingerly on Ymir’s cheek and smiled warmly before turning around so Ymir could unzip her dress. The gesture was just short of melting the freckled girl’s heart. She helped Krista out of the dress, trying her best not to look too intently at her underwear clad figure.

She had creamy thighs and a rounded, cute butt that was accented perfectly by a pair of pink panties. Krista found her clothes that Mrs Hiazr  had left outside the chaning room and slipped on her jeans and v- neck.

“Oh, don’t forget your necklace” Ymir said, before the girl could step out of the changing room

“Oh right.”

Before Krista could reach for her necklace Ymir was looming over her, dark, slender fingers undoing the clasp behind her neck. Krista’s heart was pounding. They had not only exchanged a heated kiss, but now Ymir was close to her, helping her with silly things she could do on her own, but yet the idea of it was so cute. Ymir wanted to do things for her, and she wanted to do things for…and to…Ymir.

“Thanks” Krista blushed, and was greeted by a puckish grin from the tanned woman, who was shrugging her jacket off. “Its nuthin’” she said. “Now, out you go, I gotta change”

“But I changed in front of you!”

“I didn’t ask you to” Ymir smirked

“What! But-but, Ymir!” She could only stammer as the girl leaned against the wall teasingly “you want to see me that bad, huh?” Krista only rolled her eyes and whipped the curtain over Ymir “Just change!” she huffed.

A minute or so in, however, Krista decided she could play mischievous too, and ripped the curtain back to reveal Ymir stepping into her jeans, long tanned legs exposed, along with a rather muscular core.

“H-Hey!! Damnit, woman!” she yelled and threw on her pants and shirt before running after Krista, who bolted toward Mrs. Hiazr’s office, laughing hysterically.

Krista burst through the doors to find Mrs. Hiazr sitting on the desk painting her nails, when Ymir slammed in behind her. “What’s going on here, girls?” She smiled knowingly

“Oh uh, nothing, Krista just, uh, played a prank on me is all”

“Oh?” the woman looked to Krista who was blushing furiously.

“Yes, I did. But um, yes, I think we’re all set. Oh but before we go, I was wondering, could Ymir wear a black tie instead of a white one?”

Mrs. Hiazr arched an eyebrow “You prefer her in black, hm? Sure, I’ll throw it in, let me just iron and fold them and you two can be on your way!” she sang as she left the room.

Krista and Ymir exchanged glances and laughed, taking a seat in the office to wait for their clothes. Krista laid her head on her Ymirs strong shoulders, she was looking forward to the yacht party that evening. Nothing her parents would do could make her feel bad anymore. Not with Ymir at her side.


	9. Tequila

This time they walked back holding hands. The plastic cover of the clothes making a soft swishing noise after their steps. Ymir had offered to carry the hangers, mumbling “If you carry them they’ll drag on the floor and just get dirty.”

The car started up and no more than a minute passed before Ymir was asking about the Mexican food and beer that Krista owed her for dragging her to the mall.

“You didn’t enjoy any of it?” Krista asked, taking a tone of bemusement.

“What the mall? Hell no.”  
“What about…when we—“

“THAT’S NOT---hrm- that’s not what I meant. Im just talking about the mall, and”  she paused a moment to fidget  “and we had a deal is all.”

“So you did like it.”

“Yeah. It was…pretty cool.” The tan girl trailed off, the girl could bench two hundred, but she handled her own feelings as though it were a nuclear detonator, awkwardly, as though something might burst at any moment.

“Are we guna chat about the mall all day or are we getting down to business and getting some beers?”

What a subtle change of subject. _About as subtle as  an elephant in a bookstore._

 The taller girl only rolled her eyes and shifted further against her seat. It appeared as though Krista had found Ymir’s elusive weak spot. Flirting.

“Listen, I know we had a deal.  But Ymir, we don’t have time to do that stuff today, we have to get to the Pier. Plus, I have to get my hair and makeup done before we go so we have to stop at my house.”

“What? Fuck that, lets get beers.” Ymir chortled.

“Ymir! This is a big deal, it’s a party with my family and their business partners.”

“Didn’t you just have one of those?”

“Yes, but that was just dinner, this is the formal evening gown affair.”

“Sounds like a Miss American Paegent to me.” Ymir huffed.

“If that’s how you want to think of it, then yes.”

Krista new there was no way that she could make Ymir understand the importance the event held. These things had rules. Very strict rules that if broken, could shake the foundation of her families dynasty.

The people in her circle were ravenously rich and ambitious, tracing their histories back to the Old World, and the games they played, though they were only that, social games, seemed to have real influence over the rest of the country.  Buyouts and Downturns, Elections and Movies, they were determined not in Washington but over drinks and dinner, and around the tables Krista sat, bored and alone.

They were the Moguls, the Politicians and Financiers, Presidents and Senators, CEOs and Ambassadors. They believed themselves to be the royals of the modern world.

They were Royalty  and she had just invited the one person that could dismantle it all. The person who doesn’t believe any of it.

“Hey I got an idea.” Ymir turned to Krista grinning

“Ymir, I told you we don’t have time.”

“No no, don’t worry, it’ll make us both happy.” She winked at the small girl driving the giant black car, “Just turn off here.”

 

The houses that lined the streets were crumbling and yellowed. Rusting fences with cans stuck between the holes and overgrown weeds outlined the sidewalks. When there wasn’t a house there was an empty lot or a broken down warehouse barely covering the weeds and garbage that surrounded it.

“Ymir, where are we?”

“South side” Ymir said simply, picking at her nails. “Oh! There, stop there!”

“What? Ymir it doesn’t like anything.”

“Trust me!”

She couldn’t say no to Ymir’s toothy grin. The girl hardly ever smiled like that afterall.

They got out of the car and, making sure to lock it, made their way over to a large brick tenamant with a faded adervtisement for a long gone business painted on the side. The only sign of life came from a barred window, a neon light, “ODB Liquors” spilled its sickly yellow light onto the cracking sidewalk.

“What does ODB mean?” Krista asked, tentatively gripping Ymir’s arm as they opened the battered white door.

“Old Dirty Bastard!” called a man from behind an armored counter.

“Oh, Im sorry I didn’t mean to be rude” Krista stammered.

“You aint rude! Just S’what I am, an Old Dirty Bastard. Now, who is you, and how can I ease yo’ sufferin’?” He was an old neighborhood staple, he ran a liquor store that hung pictures of kids baseball clubs, and community theater events that he sponsored with his successful business. He had leathery brown skin and a wide smile, he was once a handsome man, it could be seen in the jut of his jaw and the twinkle in his eyes.

“Handle of Tequila, George, and uh….a pack of Newports.”

“What kind of Tequila?”

“You telling me you carry anything other than the cheap shit now a days?” Ymir asked, smiling.

“’Cheaps’ a strong word Ymir, you know I prefer the word ‘practical’” 

The two looked at each other for a moment before guffawing and slapping the counter.

Krista looked on with interest, longing for the kind of interactions Ymir had with people. With her co-workers and now with the owner of a South Side liquor store. They joked and teased, their conversations were easy and not forced. They didn’t have rules like Krista’s did.

“An’ who’s this young lady ya’ got with ya’?” He asked as he placed the tequila bottle on the counter. The bottles lined the back wall, there was only a small space in front of the counter where people could ask for what they wanted. The rest of the shop was behind a clear, strong plastic wall.

“Krista” she smiled. “Im Krista…Ymir’s…” she looked up at Ymir, hoping she would finish the sentence with something other than ‘friend’.

“Princess” Ymir finished.

_Princess?_

Well, she didn’t say ‘friend’ but… ‘Princess’ wasn’t exactly what she was looking for either.

 “This here is my princess, Krista. We are going to a fancy party tonight and I need to make sure she has a good time.”

“Well then Tequila is the best bet then I s’pose” he chuckled. “Now that’ll be five fourty three.”

There was a beat of silence. Ymir nudged Krista “Well. Pay the man!”

“Huh?”

“You owed me beer and burritos, but I’m going to let it slide this time. So here, pay the man.”

“Oh. Okay”

The man winked at her as she placed the money in the metal drawer. He opened it on the other side and placed the tequila in, motioning for her to open it again. She did, and felt Ymir put her arm around her as she took the bottle and slipped it into the waste of her pants.

“Thanks. We gotta go, she’s getting her hair done” Ymir laughed as she opened the door to leave.

“Take care now. Don’t get too wild at that fancy party, now. I’m sure they ain’t used to Princesses bringing’ troublemakers such as yourself to their presence.”

“Don’t worry, she likes it.” Ymir chuckled at the blush that earned from Krista as they got back into the car.

There was something on Krista’s mind as they got into the car.

_Why did he seem so casual about Ymir bringing a girl with her? She even made me pay and then he smiled like he had seen it before…._

“Um Ymir?”

She may as well ask now.

“What is it Princess?”

“Just…how many—well I mean you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to or anything---but Im just wondering is all—“

Ymir was giving her a sidelong look “Whats got your panties in a bunch? Out with it, S’not like Im guna punch you” she snickered “no promises if you’re asking for it though”.

Krista fumbled awkwardly with the keys, unable to find the right one and realzing she was now on the spot. She wished she had thought about it before she just starting blurting out nonsense.

“Oye, out with it”

“How many girls have you been with?” Krista squeezed her eyes shut, shoulders tense and knuckles white. What if Ymir thinks Krista is too clingy and then gets freaked out and leaves?Afterall was only one kiss, and now she’s expected to undergo a bunch of questions and—

“I duno, two I guess.”

She answered without tension, without disgust, and without annoyance. Ymir answered the question as if it was a valid, and respectable question, like’have you ever been on a plane’, or ‘whats your favorite food?’

_Why am I so nervous!_

“Oh. That’s all?” Krista wasn’t sure if she was relieved because Ymir didn’t get angry at the question, or if it was because she had only been with a couple girls before.

“Hey whaddaya mean ‘that’s all’? Are you making fun of me? How hearts has the Princess stolen, a hundred?” She spat defensively.

“None.” Krista said, backing against the door.”I haven’t even kissed anyone before.”

Krista slumped in her seat, ashamed, as Ymir looked on, equally ashamed that she had pressed something that the small girl had obviously not been ready to talk about.

“Sorry I—I didn’t meant to upset you. “ she rubbed the back of her head, she really was shit at things like consoling, “Listen, I don’t care who you fucked or haven’t fucked before me, that’s your business, but I,uh, would be lying if I told you I wouldn’t have been jealous of whoever you were with before me. So, if its true that you haven’t don’t anything before, its cool. Saves me time beating the fuck out of asshole exes.”

Suddenly Krista threw her arms around the tanned woman, locking her hands on the woman’s broad shoulders, inhaling her earthy scent that she fucking swore she could live in, “Ymir! Thank you”

“Uh yeah. Its nothing.” Came the surprised response, as the woman’s hands found their way around Krista’s waist. Hugging in cars was hard.

“Didn’t you say we had to go?”

“Just a second” Krista nuzzled the woman’s neck, content to stay in her arms with the heat from her pulse point warm against her face.

“Hey,” Ymir put her hands on the blonde’s shoulders and gently pushed her off, the two’s eyes met and they both knew what they wanted, closing their eyes, they kissed for the second time. It was more gentle than before, there was no desperate searching of hands or shaking breaths, though that was fun in its own right, this time it was just sweet, like a summer morning.

Ymir had her hand on Krista’s cheek as they pulled apart, both blushing. Krista’s eyes were swimming in affection, and it made Ymir’s heart skip all the way to the fucking moon, she couldn’t help it, she pulled Krista in and kissed her again, eliciting a happy hum from the girl who nuzzled her nose against Ymir’s as they pulled apart.

“Damn, you’re really affectionate” the darker woman chuckled under her breath.

“You’re easy to be affectionate with”

“What? What the hells that supposed to mean?” Ymir began buckling her seatbelt, not really caring what the answer was, she was so happy that this blonde angel even looked her way let alone do all this cutesy nuzzling and cooing. Like a godamn bunny rabit.

“I don’t know, I guess I just think you’re cute Ymir!” she bubbled.

“Hah. Whatever, lets get the fuck outta here so you can get your hair done and we can get drunk” she smiled at the blonde as she started the car.

“Okay” she smiled contentedly as she pulled out of the spot and down the street towards the highway.

The rest of the ride was spent with the two stealing shy glances at each other and making fun of the commercials that came on the radio. At one point, Ymir reached over and pulled one of Krista’s hands off the steering wheel, placing it in hers over the center armrest. The two blushed furiously when Krista squeezed it said “You’re right. I do like it.”

 

They arrived at the house around 8:00pm, leaving them only an hour to dress and prepare before they had to be at the docks at nine.

“Ymir! That side trip took way too long!”

“Relax, it’ll be worth it, trust me. And geez, if you’re so worried I’ll fuckin’ help ya’” She replied from her position on Krista’s bed.

“There’s no way Im letting you anywhere near my hair. Ill do it on my own” she huffed as she sat down in front of the mirror.

It was the second time Ymir had been in Krista’s room. This time, however, she didn’t have to hide, so she took her time browsing the girl’s bookshelves as the small blonde put  creams, pins, and other cringe worthy devices into her hair. It was amazing and terrifying to watch. Why would anyone put themselves through all that? All she could think was that there were a lot of were some happy businessesmen, laughing all the way to bank, their accounts bloated from with money given to them by wide eyes hopeful girls who just wanted to look pretty.

“Ergh” the thought made her cringe as she continued to browse Krista’s shelves. Her fingers danced across poets and essayists, fiction writers and historians. Krista was pretty fancy. All the titles seemed to point in a direction of finding meaning… Krista perhaps was no princess….but a prisoner instead.

“So you like Bukowski, huh?” Ymir called over her shoulder

“Hm? Oh um, yeah I guess. I think he’s kind of a sexist jerk but he has a couple poems in his books that make buying the whole thing worth it, you know?”

“Tch. You just don’t get his genius, I mean, come on!”

“You like him Ymir? Cant say Im surprised.” she giggled with bobby pins in her mouth.

“Oye whats the supposed to mean?”

“Mmm nothing.” Krista approached Ymir, hair half done up, holding hair spray in one hand.

“W-woah! What are you doing?” Ymir froze as Krista hugged her from behind, “It just means you’re lonely and need a hug.” She cooed.

“Whatever.” She growled, not wanting to admit how nice it felt.

Ymir felt her hands move on top of Krista’s, rubbing them gently. What the fuck was happening? She was never like this before; it was like someone else was controlling her body! Love? Affection? All that was a waste of time, humans were meant to fuck and repopulate, not…not give back rubs!

She was getting pissed off at how foreign she felt inside, but then, as she felt Krista’s breathing on her neck, her soft, light breathing, all thoughts flew out of her head and she turned, pressing a short kiss to the girl’s head.

“Damn. You really look good. I didn’t even think hair was that big of a deal, but….I guess Im eating my fucking words huh?”

Krista had her hands behind her back now, tilting her head to the side  in some kind of attempt to look innocent. Ymir had seen that before, and frankly it looked fucking weird  and unnatural when other people did it, but Krista, she had it down pat,

“Thanks Ymir. You look good too” she smiled.

Her blonde hair was tied up in a bun with a red flower stick in the side, her bangs were straightened and covered her forehead in a sideways scoop. She had curled a couple strands that now hung gingerly from the bun, framing her face. It was an elegant and sophisticated style that this girl had probably had to master after years of attending banquets, fundraisers and every other kind of party rich people throw in the name of pretending that they work.

“So uh..shall we?” Krista nodded, and Ymir took her arm and hooked it around her own, leading down to the garage where the driver waited.

“What a gentleman” Krista giggled.

 

They climbed into the backseat of the car, Ymir holding Krista’s dress from touching the road before following in after her. They sat in wait until the driver climbed in and they made their way downtown, watching the city lights come into view as they held hands under the cover of the partition wall.

“Hey” Ymir whispered, breaking the rhythmic thrum of the engine as they drove down towards the pier.

“Mm?”

“Here, have some” she said, unscrewing the gold plastic cap of  _Tijuana Tequila,_ a brand she had never heard of,  and taking a nasty swig.

“Ymir. It smells disgusting.”

“That’s because it is disgusting. Do you want some or not?”

“I think I’ll pass.”

Ymir shrugged, her suit looked really good on her, it even made swigging from a plastic bottle of bottom-shelf fire water look enticing “Hey is that asshole and his kid gunna be there? You know, the one that came to our restaurant, got piss drunk and humiliated all of the waiters?”

Krista gasped, and whirled to meet Ymir’s eyes. “Jean too…” she whispered “oh no. Jeans going to be there. I totally forgot” She put her head in hands. Ymir looked on concerned, rubbing the girl’s shoulders.

“Give me that” Krista demanded, ripping the bottle from Ymir’s hands, taking a long chug.

“Atta’ girl! Deal with your problems like an adult!” She chuckled.

“That was gross. But” she took a breath “I feel…warm” her smile widened and she leaned against the girl in the tuxedo. “Mmm. Much better. With you here, and this Tequila, nothing can go wrong”

“And if it does, it wont bother you” Ymir laughed, putting her arm around the girl. They stayed like that until the car stopped in front of a very large Yacht.

“Ugh. You didn’t tell me there would be so many people”

“Ymir, it’s a party, there tend to be people at parties” Krista rolled her eyes.

“Yeah well, lets finish half of this over there behind those crates and I promise I’ll be good” Ymir wiggled the tequila bottle and smirked as Krista sighed and followed her behind some loading equipment.

“You better be!” she admonished.

They were feeling warm and happy when they boarded the ship, but as Krista’s father watched from the deck, he was anything but.


End file.
